Summer break 2015 was a pivotal time in Lisa Hernandez’s life. Not only was it the summer that the 15-year-old Las Cruces High School student received her driver’s learner’s permit, but she used that newfound ability to help her mom get to and from the hospital while her baby brother was in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) at Memorial Medical Center.

William ended up staying in the NICU for a week to receive additional care for respiratory issues. To this day, Lisa vividly remembers that experience, amazed at the incredible impact a group of strangers can have on a family’s life.

 “I remember all the interventions the nurses did with my brother. I would see how the nurses would work together as a team,” Lisa said. “I always wanted to be in the medical field, but I didn’t know exactly what I wanted to do. So, then I looked into NICU nursing.”

As it turns out, Lisa, herself, had also received special care in the MMC nursery before the hospital’s NICU was officially established.

Fast forward 10 years, and Lisa is thriving as a night shift NICU nurse just steps from where she and her brother were born. As parents rest or take a break, Lisa is able to act as a “pretend parent” and pay forward the help her own family had received.

“I’ve always loved babies, and I always thought it would be a blessing to work with moms and get them through this difficult process of having this sick child. Get them through that process like they did with my mom. I thought that was very inspiring,” she said.

The New Mexico State University nursing graduate will celebrate her three-year anniversary at MMC next spring. “Being in nursing is a very rewarding job. It’s difficult to become a nurse but it’s definitely doable. I’m a first-generation nurse in my family, so I had to go in blind. But you’ll love it.”

By far the most rewarding and fulfilling part of her job? “Seeing the parents be so happy that they can take their baby home.”

With such fragile patients and moments of life, however, come unpredictable and scary moments – moments when members of the team like Lisa are called upon to offer not only essential medical care, but resilience and empathy.

“You become very close to those premature babies, because you get to form a bond not only with the baby but with their parents,” Lisa said. “As long as my patient’s OK, that’s all that matters to me.”

At MMC’s 10th annual NICU Reunion in late October, Lisa was joined in attendance by William and the siblings’ mom. “I think it was just nice seeing how NICU babies grow into big kids,” Lisa reflected. “NICU is what I love to do.”

Want to make a difference in your community like Lisa? Explore the many careers here at MMC.