Hannah L DeChiara
March 2024
Hannah L
DeChiara
,
BSN, RN
Emergency Department
Emerson Hospital
Concord
,
MA
United States

 

 

 

Hannah provided us with information about allergies in a non-judgmental and informative way. And even though we only spent about an hour with her before her shift was over it felt like a friend was leaving us when she said goodbye.
I had been baking “healthy brownies” that had an entire cup of raw cashew butter in them. My 9-year-old son, M, ate one and almost immediately started vomiting, swelling, experiencing chest tightness, and difficulty breathing. I tried giving him Benadryl, but he couldn’t keep it down, and his symptoms seemed to be worsening. As a nurse practitioner myself I questioned whether this was anaphylaxis while my husband insisted I was overreacting. I trusted my gut, and we headed to the ED at Emerson. To say M was scared was an understatement. I tried to make light conversation on the ride so as to not exacerbate any of his symptoms. When we got to the ED and met Hannah she immediately put M at ease. M began vomiting when he got to the ED and the doctor did a brief assessment before deciding he needed epi. Hannah grabbed the epi without hesitation, and prior to administration, she took a moment to teach me, M, and my husband what the pen looks like and how to take the cap off, where to administer, and how to inject. While M was frightened at this time (and so was I) she remained calm and her kindness and tone put us at ease. With Hannah, I knew we would be okay. After administering the epi, Hannah calmly but swiftly, walked over to the side of the bed where she informed M she would be starting an IV and told him she would be using this to help give him more medications that would make him better. She put in the IV as painlessly and quickly as she could and distracted him but chatted with him while doing it. When Hannah came back in to administer the meds, she made sure to push them slowly to make it more comfortable for M, and she sat by his side. She talked to him about school and asked him about his hockey team. She made sure he was feeling comfortable but also tried to make him forget about what he was going through. Hannah also told me several times that I made the right call, and she was proud of me for trusting my gut. Even though I am a nurse practitioner myself, it is so hard to make critical judgment calls when it is about your own family because your vision becomes clouded. It meant a lot to me that she acknowledged that it was a difficult decision for me to figure out what to do at that moment, but I also felt grateful that she acknowledged that I had made the right call. Hannah provided us with information about allergies in a non-judgmental and informative way. And even though we only spent about an hour with her before her shift was over it felt like a friend was leaving us when she said goodbye. She ensured a warm handoff to the night nurse, and we trusted her that we would remain in good hands after she left. During one of the scariest times in both M's and my life, I felt like we made a friend and I am absolutely certain that her calm demeanor, compassion, kindness, and critical skills were instrumental in saving M’s life. I wonder how many lives she has saved and touched that come through this ER without her thinking twice about it. I am so grateful to the staff who took care of M, especially Hannah. She makes me feel extremely proud to be a fellow nurse colleague. Thank you so much to Hannah and the Emerson ED team for acting so swiftly and saving M’s life.