My mother was brought to Carle Foundation Hospital via AirEvac after sustaining injuries in an automobile accident. After emergency surgery, mom was admitted into ICU in critical condition with a carotid artery dissection which resulted in a massive stroke. Andrea Ray was our day nurse on the 7th floor ICU. It was painfully obvious that my mom was not going to survive her injuries.
Andrea was very compassionate and spoke to my mom with encouraging words even though mom was unconscious and not responsive. Andrea would come into my mom's room before her shift started and ask if there was anything she could do for us. She almost always patted my mom's hand or stroked her arm when she would talk. She stayed long after her shift ended just to sit and talk to us, to answer our questions, to hug us and let us know it would be alright….even though she had a husband and 2 little boys waiting for her at home.
My mom was placed on comfort care and the decision was made to move mom from the 7th floor ICU to a room on the 6th floor. Andrea told us that she didn't want to move mom out of ICU but we knew the room was needed for seriously ill/injured patients. Andrea could have arranged for a tech to take my mom's bed to the other floor, but instead, she stayed by our side and spoke to us while pushing mom's bed down the long hall, onto the elevator, and to the other room. Once we arrived on the 6th floor, Andrea discussed mom's care in detail with the new nurses and stayed with us until we were settled.
My mom passed away less than 90 minutes later and within a few minutes, Andrea had returned to my mom's bedside on the 6th floor to console my dad, brother, and me. She loved on us the whole time and it was such a blessing to our family to have such a warm and loving nurse who we felt had bonded with my mom as well. Seven weeks later, we are still talking about Andrea and will never forget her going above and beyond her job duties to love on us while we were at Carle Foundation Hospital.