We would like to nominate our favorite nurse, Whitley, who works in the pediatric department. She was our sunshine in our dark time. Our daughter was admitted due to a ski accident and ended up in Peds/PICU.  She was our first nurse in the pediatric dept. She comes into the room, and says that her name is Whit, so we instantly ask her if that was short for Whitney.  Whit goes (we will never forget this and still talk about it to this day) "No, but if asked, some of my old teachers would tell you it was. It's short for Whitley with an 'L' and puts an L up to her forehead. My daughter was laughing and smiling and that was the first time since the accident that we had seen any happiness.  So by nature, every time she came into the room, we would say, "It's Whit with an L," and hold up the L on our foreheads.  

We loved that she would explain everything that she was going to do and why she was doing it.  My husband and I do not have any medical background so it was nice to not have to ask my mother (who is an ICU RN in Milwaukee for the last 35 years) about everything. She also encouraged questions so at no point did I feel like I was burdening her.  Also, our daughter had a chest tube and Whit told us she just wanted to get the guru that teaches this at their skills fair to make sure it is working and set up right.  It reassured us that she was giving the best care because she knew her weaknesses.

My mother wanted us to put this in here: Grandma, "I have been an ICU nurse for 35 years and I use to think that I gave exceptional care to my patients but after watching Whit, I am starting to channel my inner Whit (that's what we call it).  I strive to make my patient and their family feel like they are the only thing that matters when I am with them, just like she did for us. (I know she had more than just us as patients but you would have never known that by the care and the attentiveness that she delivers) and I make sure that I explain everything that I do with the families now.  After having a family member in the hospital that doesn't have a medical background, I found the true value in it. It allows them to be more active and feel like they know what is going on without having to ask questions and feel stupid.  Whit truly has found her calling.  You can tell she has been doing this for a while because she is seamless in her cares and teaching.  If Whit ever gets to see this, thank you for making me a better nurse but most importantly, thanks for taking such great care of our granddaughter and her parents."

We saw that Whit has a way of getting on the kid's level and having them do things that are good for them but that they don't want to do.  Our daughter was really sore and didn't want to get up but Whit convinced her to get up and walk to the bathroom.  We could hear them talking about volleyball, and the next thing we know they are going for a walk.  I was in the hallway once and Whit must have had a male patient that they needed to get vitals on. He was yelling and kicking the other person that was with the staff that was trying to get the vitals.  So Whit just sat right down next to him and she starts talking Avengers with him.  You could tell he got super calm and excited talking with her.  She then grabs the cuff thingy and says "I need to see how much Hulk you have in you."  Then she grabbed the finger thing and goes, "I need to see how much Iron Man power you have."  This kid was eating it up, she got what she needed and made it fun for him while doing it.  I'm telling you, she has a superpower!

The moment that we have to thank Whit for the most is when our daughter took a turn for the worst.  Whit had to stay in our room to give blood and take vitals. She was talking with us and told us that sometimes after surgery, patients have to stay in PICU overnight.  Just her honesty was refreshing…and that is what ended up happening.  The heads up was so nice, it didn't throw us for another loop allowing us time to process it. But then Whit had to go take care of her patients and she said to us, (we can't remember her name, she was tall with dark brown hair) was going to be taking care of our girl.   She told us that we were in great hands because she has been a nurse there for years.  By Whit telling us that, we felt reassured.  If she trusted this nurse, then we trusted this nurse.  Our daughter went down to surgery to stop the bleeding and a while later (while our daughter was gone), Whit came into our room and asked us how we were doing and if we needed anything.  She did not need to do this but it was exactly what was needed.  We both just wanted to hug her at that moment and just tell her how much it meant to us that she care so much.  But we figured that would be weird.  

The next day when we were in PICU, we would see Whit in the hall, (while we were getting coffee) and she would always ask us how we were doing and how our girl was.  Honestly, we were sad when we would see Whit on the floor and we didn't have her as our nurse. Now, we received great care from all of the nurses up there but she just went out of her way to make us feel like we were her only patients.  

On one of the last days there, we asked Whit if she would come to take a picture with our daughter, and she did.  They took one good one and one with the L on their foreheads (naturally, the one with the L's on the forehead is on the mantel).  We will never forget her.

This was a very scary time for us and Whit was able to get us to laugh and feel like we were her only patients (even though we would see her running around the floor).  If she ever gets to see this…Whit, we are so grateful that we got to have you as our nurse several times.  You are truly amazing at what you do and we truly cannot thank you enough from the bottom of our hearts.