charlotte smardo, RN, CCRN

Last week I was caring for a 14 year old male who became tragically and suddenly very ill. All afternoon, this young man was very unstable and his parents were informed that it was unlikely that he would live. The parents then made the decision to make their child a modified DNR. When this young man deteriorated precipitously at 1930 several of us nurses in the room were focused on pushing IV fluids and a few meds. Charlotte was the resource nurse that day. She came around to the mother and told her that she could get in the bed with her dying child so that she could be as close to him as possible as he died. I think that the mother will always remember and cherish the fact that she was basically holding her son when he died. This level of caring and empathy is typical of the patient care Charlotte delivers and she truly epitomizes compassionate care for the child and the family.