On Monday's episode of the Today Show, Hoda Kotb commemorated the start of National Nurses Week by sharing her heartfelt experience with nurses while her 3-year-old daughter, Hope, was in the ICU.
Alongside her co-anchor Jenna Bush Hager, Hoda reflected on the comforting presence of nurses during her difficult time at the hospital.
Hoda, who is also a mother to 6-year-old daughter Haley Joy, had taken a few weeks off from Today in February when Hope was admitted to the hospital.
She recalled an emotional moment at 3 a.m., sitting alone in a hospital room, when a nurse entered and offered a supportive touch without saying a word.
"I was just in this room in a chair by myself, thinking about, like, what's going on here," the 51-year-old said.
"And this nurse walked in, put her hand on my back, didn't even say anything, just sat there for a minute. I was like, 'Oh my God.' I could feel myself, like, right at the time."
Jenna described the nurse as "like an angel," while Hoda emphasized the nurse's understanding of her emotional state.
"They knew at that moment," she said, adding that nursing involves much more than medical tasks like administering IVs and tests. "It's everything that they do."
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Hoda also shared a touching memory of asking for a bath for her daughter. Although Hope could only be sponge-bathed, the nurses went out of their way to create a makeshift bath for her.
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"I remember they got this little plastic thing, and they put it in the shower and put Hope in it," she recalled. "That tiny thing, but it was everything at the time. It was beautiful."
While Hoda has not disclosed further details about her daughter's diagnosis, she previously described the experience on Today with Hoda and Jenna as "really scary."
Speaking fondly of Hope, she said her daughter is "vibrant and brilliant" and expressed her joy at having her little one back home.
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