Alya was the nurse in the ED caring for my son on what was one of the most terrifying days of my life. My son had come down with a fever that afternoon and woke up from a nap, twice, very confused, complaining that he was being choked and couldn’t breathe, he was seeing people that were not there, screaming out in terror. I couldn’t make sense of what was going on. The second time this happened he was so frantic and scared that I decided I needed to bring him in. This was clearly more than his usual sleep delirium.

On the way to the ED, he was in hysterics complaining he couldn’t breathe, he was banging on the dashboard begging me to hurry up, and he tried to crawl out of the car while we were moving. When we got to the ED, emotions started to get the best of me. As a nurse myself I knew something was wrong but had no idea what it could be. I struggled to find words to answer her questions, I couldn’t remember the timeline of events that led up to us arriving in the ED. I was a mess, and Alya knew it. She looked at me and said, “It’s okay, you just be mom and I’ll be the nurse. I’m glad you brought him in, he needs to be here. We will find out answers today.” At this moment I felt like I could finally breathe. I needed to hear this. It allowed me to just focus on loving my son when he needed his mom the most.

I am so thankful for everything Alya did while my son was in her care. She is an amazing nurse and Essentia is lucky to have her. She was present and attentive to use our entire visit. She checked in on us every 15 minutes, each time assessing and reassuring me that he was going to be okay. Alya exemplified every one of Essentia’s values and she is living out Essentia’s mission.