Madeline Pantfoeder
June 2025
Madeline
Pantfoeder
,
BSN, RN
Pediatric ICU
St. Joseph's Children's Hospital
Tampa
,
FL
United States
Madeline proceeded to comfort her and said, “Ok, I’m going to braid your hair and make you look like Elsa, and I even have a hair bow to put in your hair to make it prettier.”
My daughter just had her birthday yesterday, and we had to bring her in early in the morning the next day for neurosurgery. Madeline was one of our nurses and was so amazing with my daughter and with us as well. Madeline came in and tried to fix the head wrap my daughter had on her head, but saw how messy her hair was, so she told us she would go look for some supplies and then would be right back. Madeline came back to the room with hairbands and a hair bow with Olaf on them because we told her how much she loves Frozen and how she dressed up as Elsa for her birthday the day before. Madeline proceeded to comfort her and said, “Ok, I’m going to braid your hair and make you look like Elsa, and I even have a hair bow to put in your hair to make it prettier.” Madeline proceeded to braid her hair just like Elsa and put a hair bow for her bangs to keep them out of her face.
Madeline then took the time to make sure the head wrap was on well enough and that it stayed, which it did for the rest of the night, I believe. This was special because we had been having trouble all day with keeping the head wrap on her, and with her hair being all over the place, it looked very uncomfortable. Madeline took the time to comfort my daughter and braid her hair to make her more comfortable and to make sure the head wrap was on securely. After this, they brought a treasure chest out for her to choose a new toy since she did so well with letting Madeline do her thing. We had a rough night this night as well, but Madeline came in and comforted her and always asked us if we needed anything else.
This whole experience has been very much anxiety-inducing, and having a nurse like this watching over my daughter helped so much with being able to rest through the night, even if it was just for a short bit of time. The experience I explained above wasn’t the only positive thing that this person did for us, either. There are quite a few things that she did, but this was our first experience with her, and I knew that I loved her as her nurse right away! I hope that this nomination means something to her because everything she did for us means something to us.
Madeline then took the time to make sure the head wrap was on well enough and that it stayed, which it did for the rest of the night, I believe. This was special because we had been having trouble all day with keeping the head wrap on her, and with her hair being all over the place, it looked very uncomfortable. Madeline took the time to comfort my daughter and braid her hair to make her more comfortable and to make sure the head wrap was on securely. After this, they brought a treasure chest out for her to choose a new toy since she did so well with letting Madeline do her thing. We had a rough night this night as well, but Madeline came in and comforted her and always asked us if we needed anything else.
This whole experience has been very much anxiety-inducing, and having a nurse like this watching over my daughter helped so much with being able to rest through the night, even if it was just for a short bit of time. The experience I explained above wasn’t the only positive thing that this person did for us, either. There are quite a few things that she did, but this was our first experience with her, and I knew that I loved her as her nurse right away! I hope that this nomination means something to her because everything she did for us means something to us.