We would like to recognize Michelle Linenberger MSN Ed, RN-BC, Children's Hospital Nurse Educator, Professional Development Specialist who has served as a liaison for PICU patients in T7 MSICU Gold. We have been designated to care for PICU patients since 1995; however, we have experienced a dramatic increase over the last couple of years. As of 2018, 40% of our patients have been PICU patients. And we are so grateful to Michelle Linenberger for supporting us with education and advocating for us to the PICU leadership and the PICU medical staff. We appreciate her passion and consistent presence in our unit, providing just in time education, alleviating our anxiety and celebrating our successes.
Our unit has been caring for R for the past 2 years while he has required ICU level of care. He is an adolescent male, with a past medical history significant for global developmental delay with neuromuscular scoliosis, Chiari malformation s/p decompression, hydrocephalus s/p VP shunt with multiple revisions, now with VA shunt in place, seizure disorder, neurogenic bowel, and bladder s/p vesicostomy. He required full care at home, has a trach and ventilator dependent.
While this is a familiar type of patient for PICU, his care was not familiar to our staff who were more comfortable in caring for critically ill adult patients. Michelle was instrumental in the care of this patient from the onset. Michelle listened to the concerns of the bedside nurses. She talked to the father and reviewed the plan of care when R was struggling on the vent. She advocated for the pediatric RT to be placed in T7 MSICU Gold routinely to address RC pediatric-specific needs. She acted as a passionate liaison with the PICU attending physicians for timely bedside rounding so that the nurses could learn and be proactive with care. In addition, Michelle would round at least once a day, sometimes twice a day to make sure R had the care he needed to get him home. Michelle even stayed after hours, so that she could touch base with the nightshift nurses to review some education, make sure the pediatric RT was assigned and make sure the nightshift PICU attending was addressing R's needs in a timely manner. R's care became seamless and he was discharged home directly from MSICU Gold.
Because of Michelle's commitment to the excellent care of PICU patients, not only did the patient benefit, but the entire MSICU Gold staff benefited. We continue to grow in our practice as we continue to take care of more and more pediatric patients and we can always count on Michelle to collaborate with us so that we can deliver the care PICU patients deserve. It has been an incredible privilege to work with someone as special as Michelle whose love for children is awe-inspiring.
This past year Michelle also spoke on behalf of UC Davis Children's Hospital as well as the Children's Hospital Association as a subject matter expert in teaching adult care nurses how to overcome their fears and develop competency in caring for children. Children's Hospital Today online journal, published an article regarding Michelle's success in caring for children in an adult setting.