Kevin Sequeira
May 2020
Kevin
Sequeira
,
RN
Cardiac Critical Care Unit
The Hospital for Sick Children
Toronto
Canada
My son has spent 9 days in the CCU at the time I am writing this. He has had many nurses caring for him during this time, each of which blew me and his mother away with the level of compassion and nursing excellence they have displayed. We feel incredibly lucky to be a part of the sick kid's family and want to sincerely thank everyone here who had a part in saving our baby boy's life.
That being said, Kevin has stood out among this group of everyday superheroes. He regularly ensured our family was involved in our son's care, understood procedures that were taking place, and that we were ok with anything happening to our son. He has displayed incredible levels of compassion, talking to him as if he was family, providing a calming presence when my son got upset, and taking note of his likes and dislikes so he could communicate this to other nurses. He has made us feel safe and comfortable for the first time since my son was diagnosed.
One night we overheard Kevin volunteer to stay past the end of his shift in support of another nurse. While we get the feeling this is a regular occurrence for him, he promised us that he would come back on his breaks to check up on him throughout the night. This allowed my partner the reassurance she needed to take a break and get her first restful sleep in a while. He has also volunteered to cover my son's nurse a couple of times because he knew his story and felt he could do some good for us, even if only for a couple of minutes.
It is important for us to mention that my son has not been the only beneficiary of Kevin's supreme ability to provide care. We have witnessed Kevin provide everything we spoke about above to every family and child he comes into contact with. We have also seen Kevin helping out other nurses with questions and concerns, and push/skip a break if thought it would impact any of his patients in a negative way. We want to sincerely thank Kevin for everything he has done for us. We will be forever grateful and hope our paths will cross again, I know that our son feels the same way.
Note: This is Kevin's 2nd DAISY Award!
That being said, Kevin has stood out among this group of everyday superheroes. He regularly ensured our family was involved in our son's care, understood procedures that were taking place, and that we were ok with anything happening to our son. He has displayed incredible levels of compassion, talking to him as if he was family, providing a calming presence when my son got upset, and taking note of his likes and dislikes so he could communicate this to other nurses. He has made us feel safe and comfortable for the first time since my son was diagnosed.
One night we overheard Kevin volunteer to stay past the end of his shift in support of another nurse. While we get the feeling this is a regular occurrence for him, he promised us that he would come back on his breaks to check up on him throughout the night. This allowed my partner the reassurance she needed to take a break and get her first restful sleep in a while. He has also volunteered to cover my son's nurse a couple of times because he knew his story and felt he could do some good for us, even if only for a couple of minutes.
It is important for us to mention that my son has not been the only beneficiary of Kevin's supreme ability to provide care. We have witnessed Kevin provide everything we spoke about above to every family and child he comes into contact with. We have also seen Kevin helping out other nurses with questions and concerns, and push/skip a break if thought it would impact any of his patients in a negative way. We want to sincerely thank Kevin for everything he has done for us. We will be forever grateful and hope our paths will cross again, I know that our son feels the same way.
Note: This is Kevin's 2nd DAISY Award!