June 2023
Jessica
Kone
,
BSN, RN
D5 - Pediatric
Banner University Medical Center - Tucson
Tucson
,
AZ
United States
Jessica was the first person to truly listen to what I was saying. She spent over an hour assessing him and just watching his behavior. She watched videos on my phone of how he normally behaves and went and spoke to doctors.
Jessica went above and beyond for my son as well as advocating for me as his mother. My son had major surgery and complications arose after that recruited a long intubation. Upon extubation, he was not slowly weened off his meds at the PICU. Instead, they took him off over the course of a day. When he made it to Jessica’s floor, he was in bad shape. Being only a year old, he couldn’t tell us how he felt, but as his mother, I knew something was very wrong. For days before we had Jessica as our nurse, we had to beg and plead with the staff to look more closely. They made me feel like I was being dramatic and didn’t understand what I was dealing with. Most of the other nurses and doctors would spend a few minutes with him and base all their conclusions off of those small interactions. It wasn’t until days later we got Jessica as our nurse. By then, I was very concerned. My son hadn’t made a sound, was shaking uncontrollably, couldn’t move half of his body, and was unrecognizable from his usual self. Jessica was the first person to truly listen to what I was saying. She spent over an hour assessing him and just watching his behavior. She watched videos on my phone of how he normally behaves and went and spoke to doctors. I don’t know what she said to them, but I know that afterward, they finally took my concerns seriously and realized how bad his condition was. They put him on a medical taper, and within hours, he was himself again. Jessica then proceeded to go above and beyond the days I had her. We were here for three weeks, and those first days I had gotten almost no sleep due to his condition and crying, etc. she was so patient and offered to watch him so I could go get food, etc. I just can’t thank her enough for everything she did for my son. She made me feel heard and validated when before I was made to feel dramatic and crazy. She truly is a hero to us and so deserving of this award.