Mindy Sloan
May 2021
Melinda J
Sloan
,
RN
NICU
WellSpan Chambersburg Hospital
Chambersburg
,
PA
United States
Not only has she changed our lives, but she saved our daughter’s life; without Mindy she would not be here.
Our daughter was born at Chambersburg Hospital and had complications from aspirating at birth. She had to be taken to the NICU quickly for resuscitation and was continued on CPAP. She made improvements and then would take a step backwards. This continued for a couple days. We went home in the evening, and she was doing okay. She was requiring high amounts of oxygen, but her work of breathing had improved. At some point after we left, Mindy came in for her shift and our daughter took a turn for the worse. She was very tachypneic and requiring 100% oxygen. Mindy was very quick to recognize this and advocate for our daughter while we were not there. She was on the phone with the doctor and getting him to come in and transfer her.
I arrived at the hospital about 30 minutes later and when I saw my daughter, she was in way worse shape than she was when we had left several hours earlier. She was struggling to keep her oxygen levels above 90 on 100% FiO2. She had retractions to the point that her sternum was even retracting with each breath. I work as a critical care flight nurse and have seen many extremely sick babies. Her breathing was some of the worst that I had ever seen. I can say with 100% certainty that had my daughter not been transferred that night she would not have survived another 24 hours. She was very close to needing to put on ECMO to oxygenate her. Mindy recognized this and advocated for our daughter.
I only met Mindy for maybe 10 minutes that night but can assure you she has forever changed our lives by her assessment skills, decision making, and advocating for our daughter. Not only has she changed our lives, but she saved our daughter’s life; without Mindy she would not be here. As an RN myself I understand the importance of patient advocacy as a nurse. We are often in the position where we are the only advocate for our patients and sometimes it can be difficult to stand up and say things, call a doctor in from home, etc. She was very compassionate towards my wife and I when we arrived in an obviously trying time. Mindy has exemplified what it means to be a patient advocate and without a doubt saved our daughter’s life.
I arrived at the hospital about 30 minutes later and when I saw my daughter, she was in way worse shape than she was when we had left several hours earlier. She was struggling to keep her oxygen levels above 90 on 100% FiO2. She had retractions to the point that her sternum was even retracting with each breath. I work as a critical care flight nurse and have seen many extremely sick babies. Her breathing was some of the worst that I had ever seen. I can say with 100% certainty that had my daughter not been transferred that night she would not have survived another 24 hours. She was very close to needing to put on ECMO to oxygenate her. Mindy recognized this and advocated for our daughter.
I only met Mindy for maybe 10 minutes that night but can assure you she has forever changed our lives by her assessment skills, decision making, and advocating for our daughter. Not only has she changed our lives, but she saved our daughter’s life; without Mindy she would not be here. As an RN myself I understand the importance of patient advocacy as a nurse. We are often in the position where we are the only advocate for our patients and sometimes it can be difficult to stand up and say things, call a doctor in from home, etc. She was very compassionate towards my wife and I when we arrived in an obviously trying time. Mindy has exemplified what it means to be a patient advocate and without a doubt saved our daughter’s life.