My husband was a patient at Barnes-Jewish Hospital for over a month. He was helicoptered to St.  Louis from our home near Peoria, Illinois, after a serious motorcycle accident.

The first few days of his hospitalization were spent on the ICU floor. While we encountered many wonderful and caring staff members in this area, there are two individuals whom I would love to see recognized for the 24-hour medical care they provided during both nursing shifts each day, not only to my husband but also to acknowledge the emotional support and compassion they provided to me and to our three adult children as we learned the details of his injuries and the overall treatment plan for his recovery.

Before I ever stepped foot on the ICU floor that first day, I had an early morning telephone contact from overnight ICU nurse, Cathy, to review what she knew from taking care of my husband when he arrived in ICU. He arrived at the hospital around 3 am by helicopter.  Cathy made time at the end of her shift to update me on his condition once she had him settled and resting as comfortably as possible under her care. She explained to me what procedures and tests had taken place after he arrived, and what was anticipated for the first morning as a patient.  She was aware we were not local to St.  Louis and asked where I would be coming from.  She gave me detailed directions about where to park and check in on the hospital campus to reach his room as easily and quickly as possible. This was especially helpful to me as a worried spouse heading to a large, unfamiliar hospital complex. Cathy continued to be his overnight nurse most of the nights he spent on the Trauma ICU floor, and that brought us great comfort because of her kind, loving personality and spirit. Just seeing her and hearing her voice brought me comfort each time I interacted with her. She went over and above in dealing with our family to share details of upcoming surgeries and procedures and to explain medical testing and treatments to our family. Cathy made sure that I was aware that it was ok to stay in my husband's room overnight when he was due to return late from one of his surgeries. She made sure I had what I needed to be comfortable that night and asked if I had any clothing that needed to be laundered that she could take home and bring back since she was aware I didn't live locally. Being in the room overnight showed me the caliber of nurse that she is, as each time that I would awake with various monitors and alarms going off in his room, she was there within seconds and addressing him personally, talking him through what she could see might be going on with his pain or discomfort due to his vitals, etc. When I spent the following nights at a nearby hotel, Cathy made sure that she talked with me each morning when I called before she ended her shift to give me a complete update on how my husband's night went, as well as any information that was available on upcoming surgeries and procedures for the upcoming day. Getting a good night’s sleep was difficult for me with the worry about his injuries, but the only reason I got any sleep at all was knowing that Cathy was there to care for my husband during the overnight hours.

From Cathy on the overnight shift, most days my husband’s care was handed off to Dani on the day shift.  Because it was daytime and a more common time for me to be there with my husband, along with my adult children, we had a lot of face-to-face contact with Dani.  She is a very skilled nurse who provided great medical care for my husband and, once again, a high level of emotional support for our family. Dani interacted with us with knowledge and compassion in a way that equaled our nighttime care.  Dani had an important role in the overall care my husband received each day, around the clock.  Dani was also the nurse on duty when our extended family visited for a few days, and she so gracefully dealt with the emotions and concerns of my husband’s 84-year-old parents as they saw him in the ICU for the first time and expressed their own questions and concerns. One special thing that Dani did was start an ICU journal for my husband to explain some of the procedures and how some of his first days went.  Those notes have been valuable to us in piecing together the first few days that became a blur later. We feel that we built a special relationship with Dani during our ICU days, and that came back to be of assistance to me after my husband was transferred out of the ICU to the trauma floor.

His transition to the other floor happened right in sync with a time when he was experiencing delirium from painkillers and the trauma of his surgeries and ICU experiences. Dani was instrumental in talking with me to let me know that what he was going through was completely normal and she would be there to support us when she could. While not leaving her primary job duties, she did find moments of personal break time or lunchtime to check in with me to be sure things were going well for us in our adjustment.  Without her support, we would have had a much tougher time transitioning to the new room and new floor as he was experiencing adjustments in level of care and medication levels.  Dani is a primary reason our family adjusted well to the transition from ICU to the trauma floor, and we will be forever grateful for her support and reassurance.

Without these two nurses being there to explain procedures and talk us through the ups and downs of the ICU, getting through this time would have been so much more difficult for our family.  Both Cathy and Dani contributed extra effort to my husband’s medical care and the emotional well-being of our family. From Cathy’s night shift to Dani’s day shift, we never doubted that we were in amazing hands around the clock.  I would very much like to see these two wonderful, caring nurses be honored for the level of care provided to my husband and our family in our time of medical need.