April 2016
Kristin
Brown
,
BSN, RN
5C Neurosciences
UCHealth Memorial Hospital
Colorado Springs
,
CO
United States
The knowledge and the compassion that Kristin had for my dad I am sure she gives to her other patients, and I hope that all patients and their families feel the relief and comfort that she gave to us.
My family and I have spent the better part of the last year in one part of the hospital or another. We have had many different nurses and many different experiences, but this last time, we had an experience that was so different that it had to be noted.
My 90-year-old father suffered a massive stroke in December of 2014, and every few months since then, he has been in the hospital with a complication from the stroke or his age. In January of 2016, he was admitted with pneumonia and admitted to the pulmonary unit. The second day he was there, he had an episode with shortness of breath, elevated heart rate, and blood pressure. It was a scary and rough two hours for us trying to reassure my dad and ourselves. We did not feel we were being heard when we told the nurse on duty what was happening and felt that things weren't being addressed. That night, my mom and I were prepared to spend the night at the hospital to make sure that someone was there and keeping an eye on him. When the night nurse came in to introduce herself and to take his vitals we were immediately impressed with her. the nurse was Kristin Brown, and immediately, she started to joke with my dad and talk to him like he was a real person and not a sick 90-year-old man who had to be treated like an invalid. My dad likes to ask questions and sometimes they can seem odd or repetitive, but Kristin was happy to answer every question with a smile. Kristin took the time to listen to our concerns and to give credit to what we were saying. Within minutes, all three of us felt comfortable and a sense of peace that we had not had that entire day. Kristin stayed with us for more than five minutes and really talked to not only me and my mom, but my dad as well, asking him questions to help her take better care of him, she noticed that he still had his IV line from the ambulance that wasn't being used after being admitted and that it was irritating him and got to work right away with removing it. My father had suffered a seizure earlier in the year and, after hearing this, went to get blankets to put over the rails to make sure that if, for some reason, he had another seizure, he would be better protected. Kristin also saw in his orders that he was supposed to have his breathing and heart rate continually monitored, but the previous nurse had not done anything with the order, in just a few minutes, Kristin had him hooked up to the monitor and was explaining to my dad what was going on and why he was needing to wear it. After seeing Kristin take care of my dad and knowing that she would be the person keeping an eye on him all night, my mom and I felt comfortable enough to leave for the night and go home and get some sleep. During the night and early morning, we called Kristin to check on my dad, and she was more than happy to talk to us and let us know how he was doing. The next night, my dad lit up when he saw her walk back into the room, as did my mom and I. Unfortunately, she was just there helping out for a few hours and wouldn't be with him all night, but those few minutes that she came in to talk to him and care for him helped us feel comfortable enough to leave again. I was so impressed that on what should have been her night off she was willing to come in and work. The only night that my dad had Kristin as his nurse was his second night in the hospital, but it was not the last time we saw her. Every night that she was working, she came by to check on him and talk to my mom and me about how he was doing.
My mom is a nurse, and she doesn't like to tell the medical professionals when my dad is in the hospital, but he likes to tell everyone and then ask how long they have been in the profession; most people ignore him or answer and move on, but Kristin laughed and told him how long she had been a nurse, and then asked him why he needed to know, but she did it with a smile and a laugh and that made him happy. In the past five times that we had been to the hospital, sometimes we felt that people were just telling us what we wanted to hear or just had no idea. Kristin was not a person who seemed to be guessing or just telling us what we wanted to hear.
The knowledge and the compassion that she had for my dad I am sure she gives to her other patients, and I hope that all patients and their families feel the relief and comfort that she gave to us. I wanted to make sure that we shared our story with someone because I do believe that she needs to be recognized for the amazing job that she does. I know that my dad was just one patient that she had that night, but she made us feel like he was her only patient and that she was going to take care of him like he was her only patient.
If there is ever a person that deserves acknowledgment and accolades for her work, it is Kristin Brown. I don't think she was ever aware of how much she helped us and gave us peace in our minds when things were not looking good and we had fears and questions, but she was the best thing that could happen to us that night. I wish I could thank her again for what she did and how much she impacted our lives, but my dad was able to recover and was discharged before I could thank her again. I hope she knows that we will be forever grateful to her for the work she did with him, Kristin is proof that one person can impact your life greatly in just twelve short hours.
My 90-year-old father suffered a massive stroke in December of 2014, and every few months since then, he has been in the hospital with a complication from the stroke or his age. In January of 2016, he was admitted with pneumonia and admitted to the pulmonary unit. The second day he was there, he had an episode with shortness of breath, elevated heart rate, and blood pressure. It was a scary and rough two hours for us trying to reassure my dad and ourselves. We did not feel we were being heard when we told the nurse on duty what was happening and felt that things weren't being addressed. That night, my mom and I were prepared to spend the night at the hospital to make sure that someone was there and keeping an eye on him. When the night nurse came in to introduce herself and to take his vitals we were immediately impressed with her. the nurse was Kristin Brown, and immediately, she started to joke with my dad and talk to him like he was a real person and not a sick 90-year-old man who had to be treated like an invalid. My dad likes to ask questions and sometimes they can seem odd or repetitive, but Kristin was happy to answer every question with a smile. Kristin took the time to listen to our concerns and to give credit to what we were saying. Within minutes, all three of us felt comfortable and a sense of peace that we had not had that entire day. Kristin stayed with us for more than five minutes and really talked to not only me and my mom, but my dad as well, asking him questions to help her take better care of him, she noticed that he still had his IV line from the ambulance that wasn't being used after being admitted and that it was irritating him and got to work right away with removing it. My father had suffered a seizure earlier in the year and, after hearing this, went to get blankets to put over the rails to make sure that if, for some reason, he had another seizure, he would be better protected. Kristin also saw in his orders that he was supposed to have his breathing and heart rate continually monitored, but the previous nurse had not done anything with the order, in just a few minutes, Kristin had him hooked up to the monitor and was explaining to my dad what was going on and why he was needing to wear it. After seeing Kristin take care of my dad and knowing that she would be the person keeping an eye on him all night, my mom and I felt comfortable enough to leave for the night and go home and get some sleep. During the night and early morning, we called Kristin to check on my dad, and she was more than happy to talk to us and let us know how he was doing. The next night, my dad lit up when he saw her walk back into the room, as did my mom and I. Unfortunately, she was just there helping out for a few hours and wouldn't be with him all night, but those few minutes that she came in to talk to him and care for him helped us feel comfortable enough to leave again. I was so impressed that on what should have been her night off she was willing to come in and work. The only night that my dad had Kristin as his nurse was his second night in the hospital, but it was not the last time we saw her. Every night that she was working, she came by to check on him and talk to my mom and me about how he was doing.
My mom is a nurse, and she doesn't like to tell the medical professionals when my dad is in the hospital, but he likes to tell everyone and then ask how long they have been in the profession; most people ignore him or answer and move on, but Kristin laughed and told him how long she had been a nurse, and then asked him why he needed to know, but she did it with a smile and a laugh and that made him happy. In the past five times that we had been to the hospital, sometimes we felt that people were just telling us what we wanted to hear or just had no idea. Kristin was not a person who seemed to be guessing or just telling us what we wanted to hear.
The knowledge and the compassion that she had for my dad I am sure she gives to her other patients, and I hope that all patients and their families feel the relief and comfort that she gave to us. I wanted to make sure that we shared our story with someone because I do believe that she needs to be recognized for the amazing job that she does. I know that my dad was just one patient that she had that night, but she made us feel like he was her only patient and that she was going to take care of him like he was her only patient.
If there is ever a person that deserves acknowledgment and accolades for her work, it is Kristin Brown. I don't think she was ever aware of how much she helped us and gave us peace in our minds when things were not looking good and we had fears and questions, but she was the best thing that could happen to us that night. I wish I could thank her again for what she did and how much she impacted our lives, but my dad was able to recover and was discharged before I could thank her again. I hope she knows that we will be forever grateful to her for the work she did with him, Kristin is proof that one person can impact your life greatly in just twelve short hours.