Christopher Leblanc
August 2024
Christopher
Leblanc
,
RN
Pediatrics
Our Lady of Lourdes Women's & Children's Hospital
Lafayette
,
LA
United States
This simple act by Chris changed his outlook on his care. Chris also took the time to really think through what was causing his nausea and took the steps needed to prevent it! This made a huge difference and truly pushed J up the hill to recovery!
Our ten-year-old son, J, was admitted to pediatric ICU through the emergency department in July. It was definitely a roller coaster of emotion and uncertainty, as all we knew was his diagnosis of meningitis and mycoplasma pneumonia. It was unknown at the time if it was viral or bacterial meningitis, which left us in a great amount of worry. While in ICU, he had a PICC line inserted and this caused him lots of anxiety, especially when a nurse entered the room. (They did his spinal tap in ER while he was awake so that didn’t help matters.)
The second and third night we were in ICU, our little boy’s attitude changed due to our amazing, compassionate, and thoughtful nurse, Chris. The first night we had Chris, J somewhat panicked when he saw Chris take out a needle to withdraw the medicine from the vial. Chris immediately stopped and explained that the needle was only used to take the medicine out of the little bottle, and he showed J the bottle, helping him to understand that the medicine would be given through his PICC line and he would not be poked with the needle. This simple act by Chris changed his outlook on his care. Chris also took the time to really think through what was causing his nausea and took the steps needed to prevent it! This made a huge difference and truly pushed J up the hill to recovery! Chris took the time to explain what medicine he was giving, what his next dosage would be, and clarified any questions we had. He was definitely the quietest night nurse- which means a lot when you are exhausted and just need a little sleep.
We ended up with Chris 2 nights in a row and J was ecstatic to see him the second night. Since J was feeling much better, Chris even joked around with J- definitely bringing a smile to his face! Once we moved to pediatrics, we were lucky enough to have Chris one more time! He helped us get settled in our room, and when he realized our room didn’t have a refrigerator, he took action. J had chocolate pie that needed refrigeration, and lo and behold, Chris brought a refrigerator to the room. There are so many little things Chris did during our stay that made a huge impact on our family. We feel blessed to have had Chris as our nurse and truly believe God placed Chris with us!
The second and third night we were in ICU, our little boy’s attitude changed due to our amazing, compassionate, and thoughtful nurse, Chris. The first night we had Chris, J somewhat panicked when he saw Chris take out a needle to withdraw the medicine from the vial. Chris immediately stopped and explained that the needle was only used to take the medicine out of the little bottle, and he showed J the bottle, helping him to understand that the medicine would be given through his PICC line and he would not be poked with the needle. This simple act by Chris changed his outlook on his care. Chris also took the time to really think through what was causing his nausea and took the steps needed to prevent it! This made a huge difference and truly pushed J up the hill to recovery! Chris took the time to explain what medicine he was giving, what his next dosage would be, and clarified any questions we had. He was definitely the quietest night nurse- which means a lot when you are exhausted and just need a little sleep.
We ended up with Chris 2 nights in a row and J was ecstatic to see him the second night. Since J was feeling much better, Chris even joked around with J- definitely bringing a smile to his face! Once we moved to pediatrics, we were lucky enough to have Chris one more time! He helped us get settled in our room, and when he realized our room didn’t have a refrigerator, he took action. J had chocolate pie that needed refrigeration, and lo and behold, Chris brought a refrigerator to the room. There are so many little things Chris did during our stay that made a huge impact on our family. We feel blessed to have had Chris as our nurse and truly believe God placed Chris with us!