By SHELBA NIVENS / Community Columnist

Chelsea resident Tanna Davis, a registered nurse in Brookwood Hospital’s Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, said she knows this is where God wants her to be.

“I definitely know that this is a calling on my life,” she said.

Davis said she was in her 30s before she went to school for nursing. But after she had her two sons, Landon, now 25, and Jake, 23, at Brookwood, she just knew this was what she wanted to do.

She has now been in the NICU for 14 years. She works 12-hour shifts caring for premature babies as well as full-term babies, who are sick. Her job also involves caring for and teaching parents of the babies.

“I love caring for our babies, as well as the families,” she said.

There are sad times in the NICU, Davis said, but all of their babies are God’s tiny miracles, most of which they watch grow and get well.

“We see a lot of miracles every day. We rejoice with the parents when we see our babies go home. This is very rewarding.”

Davis said she tries very hard not to take her job home with her, but the sick babies are always on her mind and in her prayers.

“There are times along the way when we cry along with our parents, as well as rejoice with them,” she said. “We get to know some of our parents very well after being in the NICU for months. We have a NICU reunion once a year for our graduates, and we get to see all the families and babies. It is so much fun to see them year after year.

“It is a pleasure serving in our NICU. It is a very rewarding position that God has placed me in. I pray every day that God will use me to touch the lives around me in working with our babies and their families.”

She added Brookwood has three of the greatest doctors she has ever had the privilege to work with: Dr. DiCarlo, Dr. Mena and Dr. Strange, and they have a staff that knows what working as a team means.

“Our goal and focus is always the babies,” she said.

In September, Tanna helped care for my family’s tiny miracle, Alice Everett, who, weighing 3 pounds, 14 ounces at birth, is now a thriving 4-month-old at 12 pounds.

Shelba Nivens can be reached by email at Shelbasn@juno.com.