This NICU nurse takes care of infants all while flying hundreds of feet in the air
In the D.C. region, conversations often start with, “What do you do?” WTOP’s “Working Capital” series profiles the people whose jobs make the D.C. region run.
Many nurses in the D.C. area are responsible for taking care of people struggling with severe illnesses, but only a few are doing it for the youngest patients all while traveling over a 100 miles per hour, hundreds of feet above the ground.
For the past 27 years, Janice Berry has been a neonatal intensive care unit transport nurse at Children’s National Hospital in D.C. She originally worked on the floor for about 12 years before turning in her scrubs for a navy blue flight suit.
Berry joined the NICU at Children’s National in 1986 after attending nursing school at Clemson University.
She has taken thousands of flights by helicopter all over the Capital region to pick up infants fighting for their lives.
“Thankfully, with a helicopter, it really cuts a two-and-a-half-hour driving time down to about 40 minutes,” Berry said.
On a typical day for the veteran nurse, she and her team will get a briefing from the pilots about the conditions of the aircraft as well as any weather issues that they may run into.
They pack up the portable isolation box that NICU babies usually need, though theirs comes with a seat belt for the ride.
“We generally have a basic idea of what’s going on with the baby, what kind of equipment, what size team that we’re going to need for that transport,” Berry told WTOP. “Sometimes, it’s just myself and a paramedic and either the driver or the pilot. Sometimes we’ll need respiratory therapy, and occasionally we’ll bring a doctor with us as well.”
Additional nurses, breathing specialists and physicians take the ride, depending on the case.
While most NICU nurses deal with their patients’ health complications, Berry and other transport nurses have the added complication of performing their care for the infants while flying through the air and dealing with turbulence.
As well as a nurse, Berry is part safety officer, having learned extensively about flying during her time.
“When we’re on the aircraft, we’re looking out for any potential problems. All of us are part of that team that helps keep this patient safe and are able to mitigate those safety concerns,” she said.
If the weather is detrimental to flying and could cause any safety concerns, they will take an ambulance instead of the usual helicopter that you may see zipping around the D.C. skies.
“Once I got here and I saw what the transport team did, and how they functioned, and everything that they got to do — which is a really unique job — that was what my goal was and what I strived for,” Berry said.
After a number of years of bedside nursing, she took the position on the transport team.
“I really appreciate that it’s different every day,” Berry said.
“Since we are based in the NICU, I go out as a children’s nurse, meet the families, talk to them about Children’s (National) and the wonderful care that we’re going to give this baby, and help to reassure them. Because generally, this is not a normal birth plan for anyone to have their child transported right after delivery,” she added.
Following up with the families is one of her favorite parts of the job.
“I was invited to a first birthday party recently for someone I transported, which was pretty amazing to get to see that full circle moment of my little guy doing great,” Berry said.