January 2012
Christine
Mays
,
RN
6 North
NCH Healthcare System
Naples
,
FL
United States
Recently my wife and I had the unfortunate parental duty of bringing our 18 year old daughter to the NCH downtown ER. Our daughter, who is now a senior at Naples High School, has suffered her entire high school career from Grave’s Disease.
On this particular Sunday, she became very tachycardic and began to show signs of increased anxiety to the point I became concerned enough to contact her doctor. Upon the doctor’s request, we loaded her into the car and headed to the ER. After labs were drawn and tests were done, it was determined that Sarah was suffering from a thyroid storm and would have to be admitted to the hospital. I think you could safely say that we were all pretty emotional and concerned about the situation.
When we arrived on 6N, I was in the mental state of a papa bear protecting his cub. By this time I had collected my emotions and was in full business mode. I wasn’t sure who was going to be admitting and looking after my daughter. All I knew was - they had better be good.
As a unit secretary at NCH, I am familiar with a lot of faces but I rarely see how staff interacts with patients. Sure, I hear that this nurse is ‘good’ or that nurse is ‘good’ but ‘good’ is sometimes a vague term in healthcare. At that point and in that situation the only definition of ‘good’ I was concerned with was my own.
After Sarah was in bed, I was happy to see a familiar face in Christie. I HAD worked with Christie before, and at least knew her, even if we had only worked together a couple of times. I was just wanting the best for my little girl.
Let me the first to tell you, Christie was great with my daughter. Not only did she come in with full knowledge of her condition and what the game plan for treatment would be, she was kind and bonded with her immediately. Now, I know what kind of patients usually come to 6N and its not frightened 18 year old girls who have been told they have a potentially life threatening condition. I think after the admission process was completed we all had a big sigh of relief.
I spent that first night with my daughter and even though her hourly medications kept her from sleeping very much, she always smiled when she saw Christie come into the room. To this day, we joke about Christie’s diagram of a heart that she drew on the dry erase board in Sarah’s room, also known as ‘the angry donut’.
I would be willing to say that her stay at NCH was very good. From the ER to the discharge process; everything was great as I indicated on my Press Ganey survey. However, Christie is someone my daughter will never forget. I realized this when she felt good enough to get back into the kitchen and bake cookies. This is something that both she and my wife enjoy doing together. I happened to be working that evening, and when extra cookies were packed in my lunch bag, my daughter told me to be certain to give some to Christie if I saw her. That was her way of showing her gratitude. Christies’ nomination for the DAISY Award is mine. As a dad, I too, am forever grateful.
On this particular Sunday, she became very tachycardic and began to show signs of increased anxiety to the point I became concerned enough to contact her doctor. Upon the doctor’s request, we loaded her into the car and headed to the ER. After labs were drawn and tests were done, it was determined that Sarah was suffering from a thyroid storm and would have to be admitted to the hospital. I think you could safely say that we were all pretty emotional and concerned about the situation.
When we arrived on 6N, I was in the mental state of a papa bear protecting his cub. By this time I had collected my emotions and was in full business mode. I wasn’t sure who was going to be admitting and looking after my daughter. All I knew was - they had better be good.
As a unit secretary at NCH, I am familiar with a lot of faces but I rarely see how staff interacts with patients. Sure, I hear that this nurse is ‘good’ or that nurse is ‘good’ but ‘good’ is sometimes a vague term in healthcare. At that point and in that situation the only definition of ‘good’ I was concerned with was my own.
After Sarah was in bed, I was happy to see a familiar face in Christie. I HAD worked with Christie before, and at least knew her, even if we had only worked together a couple of times. I was just wanting the best for my little girl.
Let me the first to tell you, Christie was great with my daughter. Not only did she come in with full knowledge of her condition and what the game plan for treatment would be, she was kind and bonded with her immediately. Now, I know what kind of patients usually come to 6N and its not frightened 18 year old girls who have been told they have a potentially life threatening condition. I think after the admission process was completed we all had a big sigh of relief.
I spent that first night with my daughter and even though her hourly medications kept her from sleeping very much, she always smiled when she saw Christie come into the room. To this day, we joke about Christie’s diagram of a heart that she drew on the dry erase board in Sarah’s room, also known as ‘the angry donut’.
I would be willing to say that her stay at NCH was very good. From the ER to the discharge process; everything was great as I indicated on my Press Ganey survey. However, Christie is someone my daughter will never forget. I realized this when she felt good enough to get back into the kitchen and bake cookies. This is something that both she and my wife enjoy doing together. I happened to be working that evening, and when extra cookies were packed in my lunch bag, my daughter told me to be certain to give some to Christie if I saw her. That was her way of showing her gratitude. Christies’ nomination for the DAISY Award is mine. As a dad, I too, am forever grateful.