My son, who is two-years-old, was admitted to Chambersburg Hospital late on a Sunday night. Those 3 days and 4 nights were extremely hard. My child was sick, and I felt helpless. My first thought when our pediatrician admitted him was, "How am I going to get through this?" My son made slow improvements every day. By the third day, he was feeling better but was extremely restless.
By now it's lunchtime, not just for us, but also his assigned nurse. She let us know that she was taking her break, but another nurse would be monitoring my son. Her name is Gina Porterfield.
When Gina announced that she would be with us for an hour or so, I mentioned to her that I thought something was wrong with my son's IV. She immediately checked the cannulated site and re-bandaged his arm. Gina assured me everything was fine. She explained every move she made and spoke to my son like he was her own child. She also reported my concern to our assigned nurse when she returned from her lunch break. The nurse continued to check my son's arm each time she did vital checks until her shift ended.
The day went on and after my son's nap, he was extremely restless. I asked if he could use the little tykes car to ride in the hallway. His assigned nurse immediately went and brought the car to our room. My son was elated. Since he was still connected to an IV, it too had to come along with us. You can surely picture it. An overly exhausted momma trying to steer the roof of a car with one hand while pulling an IV pole, when a toddler is freshly on the loose in one of his favorite toys.
As we made our first lap around the nurses' station we waved to his nurse who was on her way to tend to another patient. We then saw Gina who was busy charting at a computer station. Gina made a point to say hello and ask how he was doing.
By the fourth or fifth lap, I was struggling. Gina noticed this, stopped what she was doing and asked if she could help. I, at this point, accepted the help graciously. We made probably 10 more laps before my son saw his Daddy coming down the hallway. Gina helped him get out of the car and safely into his Daddy's arms. Gina then helped us back to our room and asked several times if we needed anything.
Gina went out of her way to help us, even though she wasn't our assigned nurse. She went above and beyond her duty. Gina saved me that day, in more ways than I can mention. Most of all Gina was a friend when I needed someone the most.