My three year old son met Paul when he was intubated in the ICU, under HEAVY sedation, with a drain coming out of his lungs. My son was intubated for 17 days and ICU for 20 days, and ultimately at Dell's for 31 days. So he was extremely sick.

During this time, I was able to understand how incredible of an ICU unit exists at Dell's. the ICU doctors, and the amazing care, truly saved my son's life.

At the same time, I became aware through this horrible experience, that there was something in my life that I was not aware of in my day to day living... and that was the ability for a human being to be SO caring of another human being whom they do not even know.

Paul, was our nurse for many of those nights where my son's life was in serious peril. I was a mother in such a horrendous state of mind: no sleep, fearing for the most important thing in my life, my son, having so many questions, needing to learn so many new things, not understanding so much, hearing beeps going off, having questions, watching my son suffer, and overall basic inner hysteria.

The nursing staff at Dell's blew my mind. The caring, the consideration, the moment to moment attention, etc.

And, then there was Paul... Paul will forever be the face in my mind of pure success of a nurse at that hospital. Moreover, he will forever be in my mind as one of the key people who cared for the life of my son and who assisted in his being able to get out of the hospital.

Paul NEVER once showed me a moment of being frustrated with my having questions. He never lost his professionalism nor his patience. He explained. He taught me, and he never stopped moving... working. He was on top of every medication that my son was taking; and he was on so many that it was mind-blowing.

He gave confidence to a mother who was forced to trust other people with her son's life, yet Paul deserved this confidence because of his excellence as a nurse.

Paul seemed to know that I was very on top of my son's health, and he really made me a part of the team at the same time as helping me understand things that I didn't, which were best for my son. This allowed me to trust him and to look to him as not only a guide, but an interpreter of what the doctors were saying.

At a time in my life, where I seriously felt that I was going insane, with the serious chance of losing everything that matters to me in my life, Paul gave me such a sense of security that I was able to get sleep when he was on, entrust that he was on top of everything, and as well he taught me things that were very instrumental in my own care of my son.

Example: After not having slept for about 24 hours, Paul told me when he came on during what was probably the 3rd night he had us... He told me that he would take care of my son and that I needed to get some sleep so that I would be able to better help him the next day, and that he would let me know if anything happened with my son. I knew that he was right.

A few hours after, I woke up to a quiet room and a very serene image... My son lay in bed and Paul was leaned over him and had his face close to my son's face, his voice gentle and in my son's ear... and even though my son was intubated, Paul was quietly talking to my son, ever so gently. He was calming him down, as he didn't want him to pull on the tube going down his throat. But, Paul did more than just put my son in a restraint so that he wouldn't pull the tube, he did more than pull his arm down... As Paul showed over and over, he did more...

"...do you feel this tube?" (leading my son's hand to touch the tube; he nodded) "This tube is very important. It goes down into your lungs to help you breathe. Do you know where your lungs are?" (shakes head, no). "Your lungs are here (Paul takes his finger and gently touches my son's lung) and they hold air in your body and are what help you to breathe. Right now, you are not able to breathe without some help because your lungs are a little sick, so this tube is helping you breathe. Do you understand?" (nod). "Very good, so it is really important that you do not pull on this tube. You can touch it very very carefully if you like, but please just do not pull on it, so that it can help you, ok?" (nod). My son never pulled on the tube, again.

My heart dropped; how kind of this nurse to show such love for my child. My eyes watered; he respected my son and showed him so much kindness. I was amazed that he did this for himself and my son, not knowing if anyone else was watching.

And I learned. I learned something from that experience that helped me get my son through the rest of his stay.

It is hard not to write a novel about Paul, but this experience helped me learn how to help my son during the rest of his stay. The pinnacle of watching the way Paul "nursed"
my son was in preparation for when he was extubated. I did what Paul did with my son for about 10 minutes non-stop before my son came to, when the tube was taken out. The doctor who presided over the extubation said "that was one of the smoothest extubations I have ever seen." And I thought about Paul...

The reason being, that I talked to my son for at least 10 minutes in his ear, over and over, in preparation for the extubation, when the Propathol was going to wear off, telling him "... your eyes are closed. You are in a bed in a hospital. You are going to wake up, and when you do the lights will be bright and you will see a lot of people around your bed. You are going to sit up and the nurse here will take a tube out of your mouth and then you will need to take a big breath."

I said this over and over and over like clockwork until he started to wake up... I continued, and when he opened his eyes, he was not shocked, and I know that it is because he heard me explain what was going to happen, and he expected it..., the tube came out and he coughed a few times.

This went so well because of a lot of things; the excellence of the doctors at this hospital, and so on. But there is no one in the world who could tell me that a HUGE part of it was my doing what I learned from Paul. My respect for him is incredible. My appreciation for him will never cease, and he will forever be appreciated.

If there are more things I could say about Paul, I would absolutely tell more reasons why he should receive the DAISY Award. I just could go on and on...

He is top-notch. He takes his job seriously. He cares for his patients. He gives his all and has such pride in his work. He does this, in my mind, because he wants to be the best and give the best he can for the CARE of the kids he takes care of... and that is what he does.

I am forever grateful to Dell's, and I am forever grateful to Paul... he was instrumental in my son's health and getting out of ICU and the hospital.