It was the beginning of shift change when my son arrived in the ED. We waited in the hallway for a bed. The charge nurse Carlee brought a bed into the room then EMS brought my son to his room. We could tell that it was going to be a busy night and possibly a long wait. The primary nurse came and introduced herself but she had to run to take care of a sick patient. We waited for about 2 hours. The charge nurse came in and took care of my son with a smile on her face. She introduced herself as Carlee and she made a deal with Z that if he didn’t fight when getting his blood drawn, he would get a slushy. He listened and he got his slushy. She made him feel that no matter how busy the ED was getting, we were important and a priority.

She checked on us frequently. She was able to get me a recliner to sleep in and I was so grateful. Saturday night, she came by and brought my son a coloring book and crayons…he was so happy. She wanted to make sure we were okay. Sunday morning, before we were transferred, she was there smiling and we said our goodbyes. I got to tell her thank you personally. She doesn’t realize how her act of kindness impacted me and helped us get through those 20-something hours in the ER. Carlee has something special. She connected with my son and with me. That is something special in a chaotic environment like the ED.