Lei Li, BSN, RN

Lei was my son’s night nurse. We arrived in the room late in the evening, an admit from the ED after an urgent care visit. He had a collapsed lung. He is 27, autistic, and hasn’t had any serious medical issues so we were a little bewildered. No trauma or accidents, no pain, just a spontaneous pneumothorax.

She was waiting for us when we arrived and quickly helped to get him set up on the monitors and such. She relayed information clearly and checked for understanding, so important for my son as he takes a bit to process things. She offered him snacks and drinks, important because he didn’t have dinner, and routine is critical to his peace.

When they changed direction and decided to insert a chest tube a few hours later, she worked with the ER doc to get it done, reassuring and encouraging as he tried hard to tolerate the procedure when the local anesthetic was ineffective. She advocated repeatedly for radiology to come for the chest x-ray.

Through the night, she ensured he got some pain relief, quietly checked his vitals while he finally slept for a few hours, and also helped me get situated for my overnight stay.

She was kind, caring, and professional from start to finish!