I am going to start by stating I am a travel nurse. I was on assignment in Wichita, Kansas when I found out my mother-in-law was in septic shock from necrotizing fasciitis. My brother-in-law is mentally handicapped, and my husband is a police officer. I was able to call the hospital and speak with Deanne on my 12-hour drive home to try to ascertain exactly what was going on since my husband was not yet at the hospital.

Deanne was not the primary nurse but did assist in my mother-in-law’s care. She was kind and thorough in explaining exactly what had happened since my mother-in-law’s arrival. The primary nurse for my mother-in-law was not available at the time and Deanne had her own job to do, but she made it a point to answer as much as she could to help me understand exactly what the severity of the situation entailed. There were a couple of questions she was not sure of and went out of her way to explain to the doctor what I was asking. She came back with all of my answers plus additional information the ED doctor asked her to relay. She was also able to speak with the charge nurse, as the charge nurse was at the bedside when my mother-in-law was intubated.

She reassured me of the positives and was able to tell me what my mother-in-law was saying about making sure her family knew what was happening to her and with her care. I know Deanne had a million other things going on during that 10-minute conversation but to me, as a family member and not a nurse, this allowed me to focus on my long drive and to not be focused on what had already happened and about the plan of care.