Meet the NICU Nurse Who Takes Care of Infants While High in the Sky

Being a neonatal intensive care unit nurse is already a tough job — but what if you had to do it from hundreds of feet in the air?

Janice Berry, who works for Children’s National Hospital in Washington, D.C., is a NICU transport nurse — that means she does her job by taking helicopter flights all over the city to pick up infants and bring them back to the hospital.

Berry, who has been working for the hospital for 27 years, originally worked in the NICU for 12 years before switching to work as a NICU transport nurse. She tells WTOP News that she’s taken thousands of flights by helicopter all over the region.

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“Thankfully with a helicopter, it really cuts a two-and-a-half hour driving time down to about 40 minutes,” said Berry.

A typical day for Berry and her team includes a briefing from their pilot about the conditions of their aircraft, as well as the weather, before packing up a portable isolation box that NICU babies need.

“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,” she told the outlet. “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.”

It’s Berry’s job to attend to the NICU babies all while transporting them throughout the city in potentially turbulent conditions.

“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,” said Berry.

After spending 12 years in the NICU, Berry switched to working in the air and appreciates that her job is different every day.

“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 Hospital] and the wonderful care that we’re going to give this baby and help to reassure them,” she explained. ” Because generally, this is not a normal birth plan for anyone to have their child transported right after delivery.”

As for the best part of her job? Berry said she loves getting to see families several weeks down the line, thriving and enjoying time together.

“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,” she said.