My daughter, was born with spina bifida and has used a wheelchair since she was 2 years old. She is one of the lucky ones and has had only 15 surgeries in her 20 years. Ten of them were shunt related. She has developed incredible acceptance of her disability, patience to face her challenges and a great respect and admiration for her health care providers. When she goes into the hospital, she pretty much knows the routine and "rolls with the flow", as she calls it, and loves visitors to help pass the time.
As I am writing this, we are sitting together in the 8th floor ICU where we have been for the past 8 days following a surgery to remove her infected shunt and put in an external drain. When her CSF is free from infection, she will have another surgery to put in a new shunt. This particular shunt experience didn't follow the usual pattern and this is the first time Steph has had to hang out in ICU after a shunt surgery, so it started out a little more intimidating than usual.
As a Mother, I've learned there will be times when I will have to put my trust in health care providers and my faith in God to care for my daughter in ways that I cannot. Once the surgeons complete their task, it is the nurses who take over and provide the hands-on, daily care that keeps her spirits up and gets her through it all. In our 8 days in ICU we have seen the "Best of the Best" when it comes to nursing. Before coming to Nebraska Medicine, Steph had been inpatient in 3 other hospitals and received good care in all of them, but the care here has been exceptional. I realize that just being in ICU, the nurses possess the highest degree of skill and training and every one of Steph's nurses has demonstrated that on a daily basis. But being here for an extended period, we've been fortunate to see beyond medical training and see the teamwork and camaraderie that exists in this ICU unit. When nurses would come in the room to introduce the next nurse taking over, the introduction always included a compliment toward the fellow nurse and a comment that she was just "great". When nurses would refer to each other in conversation, many times it was not only as a fellow nurse, but also a friend.
One ICU nurse in particular formed a special bond with S, took her through her fears, and became her friend. That nurse is Jena McFadden and I am nominating her for the Nebraska Medicine DAISY Award. Jena became S's daytime nurse on S's second day in ICU. S loves to chat with her nurses and she and Jena quickly discovered they share a love for New York City. Jena had lived and worked in NYC for a couple of years and S and our family had visited there in 2013 for S's Make-a-Wish trip. I don't know whose smile was bigger as they talked about their favorite places and things to do in New York and even a favorite bagel shop. S was only 1 day out from surgery and still sore, but during those conversations, she was alert, excited and her spark was back. Jena even said she would love to see the scrapbook Make-a-Wish made of S's NYC pictures and she had something special she was going to bring for S.
On day two with Jena, it was recommended that S get a PICC line. She had only had one, years ago, and it was put in during surgery so she didn't remember it. As the procedure was being explained, I could see S getting very nervous. When we were told it could take up to 45 minutes and that I couldn't be in the room, S got visibly upset and started to cry. Jena immediately tried to calm her down and told her she would be in the room with her the whole time, would hold her hand and they would talk. She even asked S what her favorite music was because she had learned that S loved music and loved to sing. I could see S calm down and I could leave the room with complete trust that Jena would be by her side and get her through it. When the procedure was done, S had told me she and Jena had listened to the soundtrack from Wicked, the musical S had seen while in New York. In S's words, the procedure "wasn't that bad". I know it was because Jena took her mind off of what was happening and made her feel safe.
On day three with Jena, she brought S a poster of New York City. Jena said that she had had the poster for a while and she wanted to give it to S because she would appreciate it like she did. S was thrilled and it will be a great addition to her NYC themed bedroom wall. Later that day, Jena stopped me in the hall and asked if S was ok because she seemed more "down" that day. I explained that it had been a long day without visitors and she was just a little bored I told her that I had the NYC photo album and if she had a couple of minutes, S could show her some pictures. A while later, when Jena came in to do her checks, S showed her a few pages, the boredom of the day vanished, and S was happy.
After Jena's three days caring for S, she had a day off and then was back in to the unit caring for a patient at the other end of the floor. After her shift, Jena came to S's room just to spend time with her and give her encouragement. As Jena was saying goodbye, S told me she didn't want to leave ICU because she would miss seeing everyone there.
During one of my early conversations with Jena, I was commenting on the differences between the remodeled floors on the building and the ICU unit. Jena's response was that although some of the other units were really nice, she and her fellow nurses liked how close there were to each other because they were always right there to help each other if needed. Wow. That says a lot. S's care while in ICU has been top notch. The teamwork demonstrated by nursing staff is to be commended. It was obvious that the care and compassion Jena gave to S was genuine and from her heart. Jena was diligent with S's care, helped her get through her fears, treated her with dignity and showed her true friendship.
She personifies the exceptional care offered by Nebraska Medicine and should be recognized for her excellent nursing skills and compassionate patient care.