He was working the evening shift as an assistant on CHOC’s neonatal intensive care unit (NICU).

She was a brand new nursing resident on the ground.

“I assumed he was so dreamy,” Kristin remembers.

Kristin, too, had caught David’s eye. However he hadn’t found out a option to break the ice with informal chit chat.

One evening, Kristin walked as much as David.

“Do you have got a stapler?”

Flustered, he answered, “It’s over there,” his eyes avoiding her gaze.

And so was born a love story that culminated, two years later, with the wedding of Kristin and David Fischer.

Now wed for 14 years, they’re the dad and mom of dual sons Noah and Cole, 11, and daughter Kennedy, 4.

Extremely regarded 

At present, Kristin is the nursing director of the NICU and David is a cost nurse within the pediatric intensive care unit (PICU).

Kristin oversees all three NICU items on the hospital, managing a group of 350 nurses who look after sufferers throughout 104 beds in Orange.

David cares for older sufferers with all kinds of diagnoses and is concerned with medical, surgical procedure, and trauma applications on a number of flooring.

Each are extremely revered and admired by their colleagues.

“Collectively they aren’t solely wonderful associates and leaders at CHOC however are elevating an attractive household,” says Nancy Kraus, government director of vital care who has labored carefully with the 2.

“Kristin is an incredible chief who strives to be related to all of the members of the NICU nursing and multidisciplinary group,” Nancy provides. “She leads many essential hospital initiatives and is an excellent position mannequin for the leaders on her group.”

David will get comparable excessive remarks. Dr. Jason Knight, medical director of the PICU, has been working carefully with him for a decade.

“He’s at all times been and continues to be probably the most hard-working and devoted nurses, each on the bedside and as a cost nurse and trauma code nurse,” Dr. Knight says. “From a medical standpoint, he at all times shows distinctive judgment, gives glorious affected person care, and works extraordinarily exhausting to help the vital care physicians, nurses, and respiratory therapists.

“From an administrative and triage standpoint, I’ve the utmost confidence in David’s talents and know that every one PICU sufferers will obtain glorious care in a well timed method. He has a constructive angle and a superb humorousness, enabling him to collaborate nicely with physicians, nurses, and respiratory therapists as a way to coordinate affected person care.”

The mother-in-law connection

Kristin didn’t understand it on the time, however one of many managers who interviewed her for the residency program after she graduated from nursing college at California State College, Lengthy Seashore was David’s mom, Marie. It was August 2008, and Marie was a nursing supervisor of the CHOC NICU.

“She demonstrated professionalism and her solutions to the behavioral scenario interview questions impressed me,” Marie remembers.

When he met Kristin, David hadn’t but selected a profession in nursing after accidents had ended his pursuit as an expert baseball participant. He was contemplating medical gadget gross sales.

After graduating from California State College, Fullerton, with a level in communications advertising and marketing and promoting, he served as an intern in CHOC’s advertising and marketing and communications division earlier than becoming a member of the NICU as a unit assistant.

When Kristin was three-months pregnant with their twins, David discovered he was accepted into nursing college. He graduated in 2014 with Kristin turning into nurse supervisor of the NICU the next 12 months. She’s been the director since 2022.

Advantages of working collectively

Like many {couples} in healthcare, Kristin and David discover that talking the identical “workplace language” has its perks.

“It’s nice that we work collectively within the medical subject, as a result of I can come house and speak to her about my shift, and he or she will get it – and vice versa,” David says.

“We will sympathize with one another extra,” Kristin provides.

Their shared expertise goes past being nurses; as former NICU dad and mom, Kristin and David have a deep understanding of what households undergo. Their sons, Noah and Cole, have been born six weeks untimely and hung out within the NICU, giving them firsthand expertise of the challenges many dad and mom face.

“I take pleasure in speaking to sufferers and serving to information dad and mom via the method,” David says. “Lots of dad and mom really feel helpless, however I inform them, ‘Hey, I went via this, too.”

Not only a job

Outdoors of CHOC, David coaches his sons’ Little League baseball group and the Fischers love doing issues collectively as a household.

They make annual visits to Hawaii to go to Kristin’s sister and revel in household dance battles, S’extra nights, and pool days at house.

Each can’t think about working wherever else than CHOC.

“It’s the folks,” David says.

“And the prime quality of care we offer,” Kristin provides.

“CHOC practices household values,” David says, “and the managers and leaders actually encourage you to develop right here, and so they help you.” Kristin has graduate levels in nursing and enterprise administration. David plans to pursue a grasp’s diploma in nursing management.

Provides Kristin: “We don’t really feel we’re going to work however as an alternative doing one thing we love.”

Marie says it’s been a pleasure to witness the love between David and Kristin develop over time.

“They work as a group supporting each other of their pursuit of progress and growth,” Marie says. “I proceed to be amazed how the legacy of CHOC has impacted our household.”