Some days are very sad and others are intensive – but they all add up to a job that Marie Hoy loves.
The 52-year-old is a senior clinical nurse at the neo-natal unit in the Kensington Building at Leicester Royal Infirmary.
It is a job she loves and which she has been doing for about 17 years.
Marie said: "I originally trained as a paediatric nurse in Derby and, after a break when I had my four children, I came on the bank of temporary nurses at the infirmary, then I was offered a job. I love it.
"All the very sick babies have one-to-one nursing, meaning there is a nurse that looks after just that one child.
"You constantly have to watch the monitors, which are checking everything on the patient. Then, you also have to constantly monitor the baby's blood and chemical activity.
"It is a 12-hour shift and, as you can imagine, some days are very busy and some can be very traumatic."
Marie and her team are responsible for caring for some of the smallest and sickest babies.
She said: "The tiniest have been born at 23 weeks – 17 weeks early – and are on the very edge of viability but most of them will go home.
"Years ago we would not have been able to save a 23-weeker.
"We have all got better at the job.
"Research is better, incubators are better and the ventilators are better.
"But it is still very difficult for the parents – it must be terrifying for them when the babies are so tiny and all the machines are there."
Marie also has to deal with babies who don't survive.
"If I didn't still get upset I wouldn't be here. But as a nurse, you can't be in floods of tears.
"You have to be there to support the parents and you have to maintain your professionalism.
"You can't be blasé, because there is always more to learn.
Although it is important not to get too close to patients, Marie said the delight of seeing a baby recovering and doing well could not be beaten.
She said: "When you see a baby breast-feeding when you never thought the day would come, it's wonderful.
"We go to a lot of Christenings and we do have a board with pictures which parents send, so we know how the babies are getting on."
It is a job Marie would not want to change.
She said: "I still enjoy it. I still like the excitement.
"It is always busy, but I love it."
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