My husband and I came into the ICU with our 1-and-a-half-year-old after she was admitted from the ER, and nobody had any definite answers about what was wrong with her. Needless to say, I was a nervous wreck. I was unable to function because I was so scared. We had great nurses throughout the visit but the overnight nurse, Kasia, went above and beyond with everything she did. She changed my toddler's diapers 3 times throughout the night. My daughter kept ripping off her monitors because she was uncomfortable and Kasia kept thinking of creative ways to distract her, cover them up, or --most importantly-- get her comfortable. She replaced them and brought her princess stickers to play with instead. She spent so much time playing with my daughter, trying to get smiles out of her. Kasia never allowed us to feel like a chore.

There are two things that stick out the most to me: First was when she brought two children's hospital gowns in to ask my one-and-a-half-year-old which one she liked better. Second, I really liked how, instead of talking to me or her dad about what was about to happen, she explained it to my daughter. She treated her like a person (and an important one!), and in doing so, somehow, I calmed down. Maybe it was because I felt like I was WATCHING someone talented navigate through a situation with ease, instead of myself being in the middle of the worst day of my life so far. She was so pleasant and had such good energy that my anxiety eased. It's been a few days since we have been home and I'm still grateful Kasia was our nurse.