The Today Show Kicks Off Nurses Week by Thanking NewYork-Presbyterian Nurses

In honor of Nurses Week, Hoda Kotb and the Today show team paid a special visit to a crowd of cheering nurses gathered from across NewYork-Presbyterian’s campuses to thank them for their dedication, compassion, and professionalism.

To demonstrate just how impactful the work of the nurses is, Hoda introduced a video of the Tsitsopoulos family and baby Artemis, who stayed in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) at NewYork-Presbyterian Alexandra Cohen Hospital for Women and Newborns for 136 days after being born early at just 26 weeks.

In the video, Artemis’ mom, Jenny, describes how key the nurses were in both her and Artemis’ care. She recalled how labor and delivery nurse Jasmin Dendariarena comforted her soon after her delivery, and how NICU nurse Lilly Fox helped brighten Artemis’ stay by dressing her and other NICU babies in handmade Halloween costumes. “I think the biggest thing for me was having the nurses there that we could trust 24/7,” Jenny told Today. “There is no way we could have gotten through 136 days without the nurses.”

Both Dendariarena and Fox were onsite with Hoda to share what it meant to be there for baby Artemis — and were surprised to see the Tsitsopoulos family, who wanted to thank them in person, walk on camera. “I don’t know if we understood looking back how much you guys did for us then, but we really know it now,” Jenny said to the nurses while holding now 9-month-old Artemis. “We’re so grateful. Words are not enough.”

The final surprise: To thank the nurses, the Today show wheeled in breakfast for the nurses to enjoy. “To every single nurse standing here, y’all do this every single day,” Hoda said to all the nurses. “We just want to say from the bottom of our hearts, we love you, we see you, we notice you — and we say thank you.”

Watch a video of the celebration here.