CHRISTINA WOODS

Christina Woods planned to be a doctor, until she realized that nurses spend more time with patients and their families.

"Nurses give one-on-one care, so nursing was absolutely the right choice. I can't imagine doing anything else," she said.

As a charge nurse in the pediatric intensive care unit at Egleston Hospital of Children's Healthcare of Atlanta, Woods spends her nights with patients — from newborns to 21-year-olds — and a maze of technology.

"There are always machines, but the monitor is just a monitor," Woods said. "You have to trust your own assessment skills."

Woods, 26, likes the challenges of always learning and the constancy of her role.

"In ICU, it's never just taking care of the patient. There's a family every time," she said. "You're there to nurture them and to try to explain things on their level."

Justin Jordan, 18, was very ill and without a diagnosis when he came to ICU at Egleston. His vital systems crashed while he was being ventilated. He required extracorporeal membrane oxygenation to save his life.

Woods "stayed the entire night — moving nonstop, trying to stabilize Justin," said Karen Jordan-Allen, his mother. "I had such respect for her . . . She was an angel in my eyes and in my heart."

Woods volunteered to work unscheduled shifts to be with Jordan, and his family breathed easier when she came on duty.

"We knew that he was in the best of hands, and she grew to be a part of my family's life during his hospital stay," Jordan-Allen said.

After Jordan died on May 16, 2006, Woods went to the funeral. She stays in touch by leaving messages on his Internet care page.

"She allowed herself to be vulnerable and to connect with my family. She was a genuine blessing," Jordan-Allen said.