My 14-month son was in the ER with severe croup. He eventually was going to be admitted to the pediatric unit, but they were full, so we had to stay in the ER several hours until a room was available. Nurse Dan knew we would be there for a while and went out of his way to make us comfortable. He brought a hospital bed into the room so my husband, son and I would be more comfortable and maybe even get some short naps in. He also was able to get some lunch trays for us and have someone go to the cafeteria to get our son some whole milk.
For a department that is filled with high stress, emergent and angry patients, etc. I was significantly impressed that this nurse was going out of his way to provide us with "simple comforts."
Watching our little guy struggle to breathe was stressful and those simple comforts made a big difference in making us all feel a little more rested and with full stomachs.
He was also great interacting with our son and us. Usually, a long day and night at the ER is not a great experience by Dan went above and beyond to make a difficult situation as good as it could be.