Recently a father shot his girlfriend while holding a little toddler. ED South received the little girl who had blood and other bodily fluids on her. I got to witness first hand Emily Hennegan take over care of this child. After making sure the child had nothing medically wrong with her, Emily held the child and took her to the decon room to be cleaned and to provide her with some new clothes. Emily never put the child down and made sure the child was loved on as any mother would love on her own child. The child remained calm the whole time after witnessing such tragedy.
I truly believe Emily played a huge part by following our core values: First- making sure the child was safe. Second- providing compassion ensuring the child was being cared for and hugged the whole time. Third- taking ownership of this patient and doing the care with compassion that only a Children's nurse could provide. Fourth- collaborating with the ALS transport team (who were all males) and personally escorting the child to the main hospital and handing over care to another nurse. Lastly, providing value creation and innovation by getting this little girl a new stuffed animal since her baby doll was contaminated. At the time we had no stuffed animals so we took the little girl to our café which has stuffed animals for sale and let her pick out a stuffed animal.
This is the second time I've seen Emily step in and provide above and beyond care to a little one. In both instances, Emily could have done her assessment of the child and left the child in the patient bed and that would not have been wrong, but Emily went above and beyond on so many instances with this child and mothered the child like the child was her own. I know Emily will say this is just part of her job and it was no big deal, but I really believe Emily went the extra mile. I truly don't believe that this is taught in nursing school. Dayton Children's Hospital should be proud to have a nurse who is willing to go above and beyond.