March 2013
Melissa
Mcinerney
,
RN
Float Team
Children's Minnesota
Minneapolis
,
MN
United States
We are so grateful for all of the care of the wonderful doctors and nurses at Children's, but Melissa was the first to gain his trust, compassionate, and she respected him.
My son C was in the hospital for three weeks in extreme pain and stress from headaches and what appeared to be a severe sinus infection. He was much older than most patients (he is 17) and right from the start Melissa acknowledged his pain, anxiety, and she helped him clean up from a very bloody nose. She never questioned the pain he felt but only tried to comfort him.
As days and weeks went by it became clear there was something very serious going on with his health. She understood from the very beginning as she listened to his complaints, cleaned his constant bloody noses and continued to encourage him. He was a stressed out, loud and ornery teenage boy, yet she calmly cared for him and listened to him. Most important and what I feel distinguishes her quality of care was the age appropriate yet compassionate response to how C was feeling. She did not treat him like a little child. He was also very cranky from pain and anxiety, yet she calmly attended to his needs.
From the very beginning of his stay he insisted he was going to a concert he had worked toward and purchased a ticket on his own. He talked about it a lot. Melissa even wrote a letter to the country singer and to the Xcel Center to try to get him a "meet and greet" on the day he finally got out of the hospital. She really cared about him, and he considered her a friend. We are so grateful for all of the care of the wonderful doctors and nurses at Children's, but Melissa was the first to gain his trust, compassionate, and she respected him.
As days and weeks went by it became clear there was something very serious going on with his health. She understood from the very beginning as she listened to his complaints, cleaned his constant bloody noses and continued to encourage him. He was a stressed out, loud and ornery teenage boy, yet she calmly cared for him and listened to him. Most important and what I feel distinguishes her quality of care was the age appropriate yet compassionate response to how C was feeling. She did not treat him like a little child. He was also very cranky from pain and anxiety, yet she calmly attended to his needs.
From the very beginning of his stay he insisted he was going to a concert he had worked toward and purchased a ticket on his own. He talked about it a lot. Melissa even wrote a letter to the country singer and to the Xcel Center to try to get him a "meet and greet" on the day he finally got out of the hospital. She really cared about him, and he considered her a friend. We are so grateful for all of the care of the wonderful doctors and nurses at Children's, but Melissa was the first to gain his trust, compassionate, and she respected him.