My four-year-old on a good day is described by most people as a spitfire. While sweet and charming, she doesn't do what she doesn't want to do. This isn't to say she isn't parented, but that she was born with a special spice that will take her far in life, but may leave those of us in her wake with a little extra salt and pepper in our hair. Heading to the ER on Tuesday with a child who normally dances and skips everywhere she goes and suddenly had severe pain and could not walk was scary for all of us to say the least. After a full day in the ER, sedation, and MRI we were taken to the peds floor where she would wait until surgery the next morning. When we got back to our room after surgery, my husband and I were fully prepared for Ms. Personality to put up a strong defense against anything she didn't want to do. As her parents, we were scared we would have a nurse who didn't understand her. While the ER peds team was good, they did seem to get frustrated with her special cocktail of fiesty and lost patience after a bit, promising that if she did x or y she would get to go to the treasure chest, but not following through until the end of our stay downstairs.

Kimberly greeted our girl with compassion and understanding from the first moment we met her. She didn't flinch or make me feel like a bad Mom when she refused her oral meds. Instead, she listened to us tell her about how the medicine she received on Monday had ruined her for meds, and believed us when we told her this was not her normal and we were struggling. Despite the fact that she may not have been the "model patient," Kimberly still made sure our daughter felt special, and built trust in her the first day we had her assigned to us.

With Kimberly, our daughter has taken her medicine all but once, and when she didn't, she simply reassured us we would try again later. She has advocated for her and spoken to the doctor about her medicine issues and worked to make sure we will receive a medication she might actually take once discharged. We have been lucky enough to have her as our nurse now for two days, and hope to be able to leave for home tomorrow. This stay wouldn't have been nearly as tolerable for our daughter and our family if it weren't for this special nurse.