There is nothing more frightening than having a child feel so bad that he would contemplate killing himself. When you find out that jumping off the third story railing in the new school, putting a knife to his neck or attempting to find a way to break his neck has been on a child's mind for weeks, there are no words. The helplessness and sadness that comes is so heavy that you become numb. You walk in the pediatric ED and it is like you cannot even find the strength for the next step although you know you must keep walking because you must be the one who is strong.
As you are still processing this and calling people to pray, you find yourself trying to find the strength not to start weeping because you have to be strong. Nurses and physicians come in to assess the situation and all have the same look of worry because this is not a drill nor is it a joke. This is real life for an 11-year-old boy whom we could barely get out of the car except for the wonderful valet person who said "Give me your keys," so we could move him along through the process into the ED.
The numbness overtakes you and all you can do is pray. The blood work is all part of the process and you know this is going to be almost impossible, even on a normal day. Nurses try to calm your favorite patient in the world but to no avail. You cannot hold him down because he has high-performance autism, anxiety, and ADHD. His mother and father left him when he was three years old and before that his mother always held him down for one reason or another so now, coupled with the autism, you can never hold him down. After several attempts to get the blood work taken, another nurse comes into the room to give it a try.
Jenna Plas is full of hope and encouragement. You see it immediately in her face as she attempts to speak to an 11-year-old boy who has scared all of us close to death. Jenna knows the importance of her job and she has a compassionate smile that you can instantly see. Jenna speaks in a tone that makes even me believe we will have success getting the treatment we need and the blood out of a very upset, anxious, angry and scared child. She works on building a relationship with him, explaining every step along the way and how what he feels is validated and he will feel better.
Of course, there is some discussion about a possible stuffed animal at the end of all this which is always a big hit with him. To say the least, Jenna coaches him through so that we get what we need to take the next steps. Jenna is always making eye contact with the family as if saying, without saying, "We got this….stay with me." You feel assured there will be success. You must talk him through each and every step. Jenna not only got the much-needed blood work; she paved a road that he was able to walk one step at a time. She started the most important work of trust and hope for him to walk through this valley he was in. There is nothing harder than watching an 11-year-old so lost that in his face there is no clear view of change. Jenna comes in and checks on him to deliver the stuffed animal as she promised, and makes him feel very comfortable. He has his grandmother, the stuffed animal, and the TV so what more would he need.
Jenna comes into the room to check on him constantly and what stuck out to me repeatedly was how she always started with communicating the plan to make him feel better soon and what a great job he was doing. It was as if God walked into the room each time she came in to see him, always providing reassurance, belief and hope that the journey he was now traveling was going to bring him to a happy ending and that things would be so much better….soon. After 24 hours of being in the ED, the next day, I saw her in the hallway of the ED. Jenna asked if we were still here and I said we were waiting on a bed in peds psych and that it actually worked out great because it gave him time to be inpatient with his grandmother and calmed down enough to go up to the unit.
I remember the look in her eye when Jenna saw me and how concerned she still was. She said "He really gave us a scare last night," and I surely agreed. Jenna worked in another part of the unit on this day but she stopped to not only check on him but to check on me. I will always remember how that made me feel because she was so key to the night before and getting through to my favorite patient at the most terrifying time I have ever encountered in all my years of life.
Of course, after one week of great care on the peds psych unit, I saw Jenna in the hallway. She said, "Hi, how is he doing?" I told her that he had just gotten out and was doing much better and how thankful we were to her and to all the team from the valet to the ED to the unit. There are times when we encounter an event that changes our lives. This is one of those events. In remembering this event, there will always be this nurse who showed quality, teamwork, service, integrity, and compassion all at the same time.
Jenna is the total package for all patients she sees….you can tell. She is more than compassionate, and I always remember her as I thank God for how He brought us through this event and I can always see her face.