Victoria Adams
February 2021
Victoria
Adams
,
RN
Pediatric Intensive Care Unit
Maine Medical Center
Not only did they advocate for her but they nurtured her as well. They were determined to show her the love and affection that she deserved and to experience happiness, which we believe she did.
We had a very long-term, complex pediatric patient who was tracheostomy and ventilator dependent. This patient experienced multiple heart surgeries, chest tubes, feeding tubes, daily fevers, a second opinion in Boston, and much, much more. She was born here, spent months here, and never made it home. Due to a very complicated social situation, the family was only able to be here only a few times throughout her 8 month stay in our unit. These nurses took on the task of being the patient's primary nurses and took ownership of her stay. They were strong advocates for her, working with all interdisciplinary team members to ensure the best care possible. For example, requesting additional services and referrals, educating new physicians about her history, advising of medications that worked well or did not, and streamlining her care so she had uninterrupted rest time while encouraging people to visit when she was awake. Not only did they advocate for her but they nurtured her as well. They were determined to show her the love and affection that she deserved and to experience happiness, which we believe she did. She recognized them, smiled for them, and was comforted by their presence and care.
They demonstrated extraordinary compassion toward this patient. They learned her likes and her dislikes and shared them with other staff who would sometimes care for her. They tried to normalize her day-to-day life as much as possible in an ICU by doing playtime, reading books, dressing her in "real clothes" and putting on her PJs at bedtime, and even taking her outside despite the enormous amount of planning and effort this took. They let her touch the grass, the leaves, and feel the sunshine and breeze on her face. While doing all of this, they included mom as much as possible via Zoom and pictures. When the decision was made to withdraw support and make her comfortable, two of them came in on their days off to be there for her and her mother so as not to go through the experience alone.
This is the exceptional care that our team does every day. But today - these nurses deserve the recognition of exceptional nursing care and compassion that our patient grew to love and know. They provided her with loving care and compassion, the kind of dedication we would all hope to have for our own loved ones.
They demonstrated extraordinary compassion toward this patient. They learned her likes and her dislikes and shared them with other staff who would sometimes care for her. They tried to normalize her day-to-day life as much as possible in an ICU by doing playtime, reading books, dressing her in "real clothes" and putting on her PJs at bedtime, and even taking her outside despite the enormous amount of planning and effort this took. They let her touch the grass, the leaves, and feel the sunshine and breeze on her face. While doing all of this, they included mom as much as possible via Zoom and pictures. When the decision was made to withdraw support and make her comfortable, two of them came in on their days off to be there for her and her mother so as not to go through the experience alone.
This is the exceptional care that our team does every day. But today - these nurses deserve the recognition of exceptional nursing care and compassion that our patient grew to love and know. They provided her with loving care and compassion, the kind of dedication we would all hope to have for our own loved ones.