My daughter was a pedestrian victim of a hit and run. She had major trauma and once released from the ICU, was brought to the 6th floor where Mackenzie was her nurse. I was on constant edge and hadn't slept for days. When they took her for tests, Mackenzie came into the room and sensed my stress. Just her simply showing concern, I began to cry. She hugged me and kept speaking encouraging words over me. Later that day as her shift was ending as well as visitation hours, Mackenzie came in and said that she got approval for me to stay with my daughter because she had a TBI and was confused and thought it was in her best interest. She answered every question I had for 2 days straight, she promptly responded to my daughter and had the best upbeat attitude.
My daughter was non-weight bearing due to a crushed pelvis, hip, and femur, and she was uncomfortable and had to be moved frequently. Mackenzie never made us feel like we were inconveniencing her. At the close of her shift, she would be sure to tell the night nurse everything that worked best for my daughter. Before the end of her shift, she approached me and told me that she was going to be off for a week and wasn't sure if my daughter would still be there when she returned, but that it was patients like her that made her want to be a nurse. She hugged me and my daughter goodbye. A bit later, my daughter started bleeding from her mouth and having a GI bleed. Mackenzie had not left and while her night shift nurse was contacting doctors, Mackenzie came back into the room. She tenderly cleaned up my daughter. She communicated and again spoke words of encouragement to her and me. She observantly watched me as I panicked and helped me to calm down. She went back and forth getting everything to make her comfortable.
I noticed the time was almost 2 hours past her shift. I mentioned to her, "Oh my goodness, you should have been gone a while ago." She responded that she wanted to be there, and it was not a big deal. My daughter ended up having a GI bleed and getting emergency surgery that evening. We encountered lots of nurses during our stay and all were wonderful, but none met the level of compassion that Mackenzie showed us. She went beyond her normal duties and during a trauma situation, this moved mountains. I will never forget her and the way she treated us. She cared for my child, but she cared for me too. I know she is going to do beautiful things in her career and in our memories, she will definitely be a positive thing that we tie to this horrible event. Mackenzie, our family thinks of you in the highest regard. I cannot wait for my daughter to be able to walk into the hospital and visit you and personally tell you what an impact you had on us. We trust that God placed you right where you were meant to be.