Brittany became one of our primary nurses after the second time working with our daughter. Brittany always went the extra mile to ensure she was comfortable and we were informed. During shift hand off Brittany would take the time to understand all activities that took place while she was away, then would take it a step further and validate all information passed on to her. Brittany's dedication to making sure her care was superior unveiled a major medication miss that could have delayed my daughter's recovery. Brittany treated my daughter like she was a family member and not just another patient. She would talk to her, sing to her, and even change her bow every day. Our daughter knew when Brittany was in the room and seemed to be calmer compared to when others entered the room.
There have been many scary moments while in the PICU, but Brittany always remained calm, took charge when chaos set in and made sure that we stayed informed of what was going on and any future changes. Brittany will always be a special person to us and one of our daughter's heroes!
Brittany gained immediate trust with us when she came on shift. She was engaged and wanted to know the small details about my daughter like which side she likes sleeping on. When possible she made sure to bunch labs and procedures together because our daughter would get very upset and it would become an issue to get her back into a good place. I had mentioned to Brittany that I have a hair bow for every outfit that I put her in, from that point on Brittany changed her bow every day. The bow remained on even when my daughter crashed and had emergency surgery to go on ECMO. Brittany took the time to learn a little about us and would engage in conversations with us which helped to ease our minds and knew she had our best interest at heart.
Our daughter had multiple issues which made for multiple complications. Brittany would take the time to explain what the issues were, how they would be treated and how one issue could or would play into another issue. Brittany really was an advocate for us with other medical departments and attendees or fellows. Anytime that she saw a puzzled face from us or felt that something needed to be explained to us Brittany would reach out on our behalf without us asking.
The night my daughter came off ECMO we ran into some issues with the dialysis machine. I knew it was getting serious when they were calling people on call to come in and help. Brittany took charge and gave everyone a job all while keeping us up to date and making sure she was doing everything she could for our daughter, not to mention she always did it with a smile. She has a positive attitude and is gracious to all around.
Brittany always made sure we were included in any discussions of medication, future plans, and test results. She would not let a meeting conclude until she knew we were okay and understood the next steps.