My two-year-old daughter had Open Heart Surgery at CHOP and Millie Ann was our night nurse for two consecutive nights during my daughter's stay in the Cardiac ICU. I couldn't sleep and stayed with my daughter in the CICU. Millie Ann was our night nurse and she was not only extremely compassionate about my daughter's care, but she was also very reassuring to me. My daughter, E, had a few issues after surgery and Millie Ann was right on top of them and she communicated well with me and she communicated with the doctors as soon as my daughter needed something. Not only was Millie Ann a great nurse, but she was helpful to talk to when something was happening with my daughter that I didn't understand or needed some reassurance about. She was also just a really nice person to talk to overall.
Millie Ann provided exceptional care for my daughter and the one thing about her that stood out the most was how well she listened and brainstormed with me. When my daughter started spiking high fevers after surgery she was right on top of it. Most importantly when my daughter started looking paler to me and her heart rate was still way too high, I spoke with Millie Ann about checking my daughter's hemoglobin again and even though it wasn't ordered, Millie Ann helped advocate for my daughter and I'm so thankful that she did because E did need a blood transfusion. I'm so thankful it was caught before her condition got any worse.
The last thing I remember about Millie Ann before she left from her second night shift with us was that she stayed late past her shift to help my daughter. E was having trouble passing fluids and she was trying everything. Millie Ann actually stayed past her shift to help the nurses set up a catheter for E. By some miracle she didn't need it, the second they were about to place it, the issue finally resolved itself. Nevertheless, it was not ignored that Millie Ann took the time to make sure E got what she needed before she left to go home. Open Heart Surgery for any child is so stressful, but when it's your child it can be overwhelming. CHOP was really wonderful with everything and I'm so thankful that my daughter was able to be with Millie Ann. Her compassion for her patients, passion for her career, ability to communicate and ability to advocate to help a parent and patient were so wonderful.