I can't say enough about Lauren Gilkey. Lauren is such a talented young nurse with so much compassion for her patients. She has really excelled in the critical care environment especially with helping patients and their families through end of life decisions and care.
My mother-in-law passed recently after a 3 or 4 day stay in the ICU. Lauren was one of the nurses taking care of her. I am so thankful for Lauren because my family and I would not have made it through that difficult time without her. G (my mother-in-law) and I were really, really close. I knew her for a little over 10 years. We talked almost every day about life, faith, and raising my sweet baby girl who was Grandma's pride and joy.
While G was in the ICU Lauren made sure that she was as comfortable as possible, taking care of her pain and keeping her looking like a rock star on the ventilator. Lauren was always so cool, calm and collected even when managing my huge family, family drama and all the visitors who came to see G. There must have been 20 or more people here, we had the waiting room full. Lauren allowed everybody to visit, 2 at a time and when she could tell G was getting tired or emotionally drained, she would respectfully ask them to step out. She coordinated multiple family care conferences for us with the pulmonary/ CC physicians and pulmonary nurse practitioners so that we could all stay well informed about her prognosis and options we had for her care. When it came time to decide to withdrawal care from this long fight with end-stage heart failure, Lauren helped us the whole way. She was a shoulder to cry on and reminded us to cherish these last special moments we got to spend with G. She coordinated transferring her to 6E for comfort measures flawlessly. I am so grateful for Lauren because I could trust her to take the best care of my mother in law. I did not feel like I had to stay back in the ICU room and I could be out in the waiting room with the family. As a critical care nurse, it is hard to step away from that kind of environment or situation and really trust the medical professionals taking care of your family member. But again, Lauren made me feel comfortable enough to do this and I could be with my husband, our daughter, and our big family.
To this day Lauren with still come up to me and check on me. Ask how I am doing and coping with our loss and how my family is coping.
I know she has taken care of other families in the same situation these are very difficult patients and it can be emotionally draining but she provides nursing excellence and compassion every step on the way. Thank you, Lauren.