Steph took care of our son as if he were her own child. Whether we were physically in the room with him or not, when Steph was on call we always breathed easier knowing that he was in the best hands. Steph never stopped moving. She was keenly aware of everything going on with all the monitors and equipment. She was also intuitively aware of our son's comfort. She never failed to add that little extra touch, whether it was keeping him warm during a sponge bath, or gently cleaning secretions from his face. No detail was too small for her attention. It was obvious that she understood how important her job is and how much our son means to us. She never tired of answering my many questions, or just keeping me company as she worked. Our son has had an unusually complicated post surgery courses and we have been in the hospital for over ten weeks now. Our son has been in the PICU twice for most of those weeks. We felt very fortunate to have Steph again the second time in the PICU and she took care of our son the same as the first time.
Steph was keenly aware of anything unusual with our son and made sure to address the issues with the appropriate provider. Several times she had addressed something I had noticed before I had figured out how to ask about the situation. For example, our son was being treated with antibiotics for meningitis and a trach infection at the same time. He was having an enormous amount of secretions that just did not seem to be getting better. Steph noticed this and talked to the appropriate doctor and the antibiotic was switched to better cover both infections. Within a few days the secretions were noticeably better. This experience has not in any way been easy for our son or us, his family, but having Steph as our son's primary nurse in the PICU will definitely be something we will never forget. We were fortunate to have had her care for our son.