I am writing to let you know how wonderful your Emergency Room staff is. My son was a patient on the night of December 15. His condition started as a small tiny rug burn on his knee, and ended up being a full body rash that we would later find out was a very painful staph infection.

Driving to the hospital I questioned my decision to take him into your ER. I didn't know if I was overreacting, or under reacting by waiting too long, but all I knew is that my 4 year old was sicker than he was a few hours prior, and your hospital was the closest facility to bring him into. I had every possible scenario running through my head from my son being admitted to the hospital and dying, to your staff joking about me overreacting behind my back.

I am not exaggerating when I say; every single one of your staff members in the ER is amazing! From the moment I walked through your doors I was greeted with smiles, and positive attitudes. That was instantly calming to me, and changed my entire outlook on how his visit was going to go. I knew your unit was busy due to the room we were placed in and the noises circulating the unit, but not once did they make me feel like a burden to their workload, rush through any of their admission questions, or their cares on my little guy.

I work in nursing myself, and a few of your staff members know me outside of their work, but not once did they rush through their explanations of my son's pending diagnosis, say to me "you should know this", or talk to me in medical terms. They spoke to me calmly and clearly to make sure I knew exactly what they were doing to my son, and I cannot thank them enough for that! I am a smart person, but when it comes to my children being sick or injured I shut down and feel helpless. Their professionalism will forever be remembered and greatly appreciated.

I do not know every staff member that was working that night, but these are the ones that impacted me the several hours we were there:

Berdie from registration. She was the first face I saw, and smiled at me. To most that may seem like a small gesture, but to me at that very moment, that was everything I needed. It affected me the same way a hug would. She calmed me down with nothing more than her positive body language; please tell her thank you from me.

Judi Stroud was the first nurse to talk to us. She also was very friendly and calm, and non judgmental. She listened to every word we told her, and most of it probably made no sense to her due to my nervous nature at the time, but she took in every word, and took us serious.

Jenny Ward came in and gave my son dinosaur stickers before her shift was over. She knows he loves dinosaurs, and that we were going to be there for a while, so she wanted to give him something to put a smile on his face. Her shift was over, but she took a few minutes to show us how compassionate she is for the patients that walk through your doors. Thank you Jenny!

Kris Lambert was phenomenal! I was greeted with a hug, and she held my hand when she brought me to the room my son was already in with his father. Thank you, thank you, thank you! From the moment we were patients in your department, she made sure we had everything we needed. From ice water, to emesis bags, to pillows and warm blankets, she was on it. She showed me how to work the TV in his room, control the lighting, and use the phone if I had to. She showed us where to use the bathroom. All those little things that sometimes get overlooked in the rush of everything. Kris also came in and talked to my son about dinosaurs, something that my little guy is very passionate about. Again, above and beyond, and greatly appreciated!

Now, we can talk about Danielle McLinn. I have never encountered such an amazing nurse towards my son until that night. She knew how to talk with him; she didn't talk at him, or ignore him and only talk to his father and me. She included my four year old in all his assessments, and that gave him a sense of importance. Whenever she was talking with him, she would get down to his level by crouching down next to him, and looking him in the eyes. Every time she entered the room, she came prepared with all supplies, and had everything organized, and that kept everyone's anxiety level at a minimum. She knew everything about the blood tests, cultures, and swabs she was collecting. She knew how long they would take to process, how a person contracts the things she was testing for, and how we would get his results. When it came time to administering his medications, she knew every possible side effect, but explained them to us in a non intimidating manner. Having his nurse know and share that information before even being asked reassured me that he was being taken care of, and that you guys were going to figure out exactly what was wrong with him. She was so calming towards my son, he didn't even have to be restrained for his IV start and blood draw. A few tears were shed, but she instilled enough trust into my young child, that he let her poke him with a needle, put on a dressing, and wrap it up with an arm board, with no temper tantrums. She explained everything to him in a way he would understand. Instead of swabbing for cultures, she was putting on magic to help him; instead of poking him with a needle, she was going to give his arm a straw for medicine; instead of drawing blood, they were looking for rocks; instead of asking my son to strip naked for the doctor, she asked him to moon the doctor when she sensed how uncomfortable he was about taking off his clothes for a strange man. She is single-handedly responsible for my son complying with the ER physician, and that speaks volumes of the compassion in her heart and the love she has for nursing. Please let Danielle know how much she meant to all of us; honestly, I don't know how we would have gotten through the night without her. Even today, several days after, my son still giggles and tells people about mooning a doctor.

I also want Dr. Strait to know how much I appreciate everything he did for not only my son, but also the entire family. I thought for sure I caused my son's condition by not bringing him in to the doctor in the morning, but he assured me that these types of infections spread like wildfire, and there was nothing I did wrong. He didn't get annoyed when I cried from being stressed out, and he didn't become angry with us when he realized my son's father and I didn't fully understand the things he was saying to us; instead he rephrased everything in terms we could better understand. He remained calm, and never appeared rushed to me, even though I could hear all the hustle and bustle of the unit outside the door. He also provided the perfect balance of humor and professionalism that was needed to keep me comfortable. I also want to thank him for trusting me enough to care for my son in the comfort of our home instead of a hospital admission. He made the correct medication choice, and it is treating my son's infection wonderfully, and we are noticing the sores healing more and more as the hours go on. Thank you again for everything, and working your hardest to help my son feel better.

I am probably missing many names of people that helped us that night, but those are the few that really stick out to me. I wish I could personally reach out and thank every one of them so they know how much their care and compassion truly meant to me. Please let your department know how wonderful they are, and how much patients and their parents appreciate them.

The ED Team:
Penney Abramowicz RN, Brittnie Beattie RN, Wendy Brunette RN, Lori Hagen RN, Connie Hagenow RN, Terra Hartman RN, Laurel Kadow Paramedic, Kris Kirby RN, Kris Lambert Emergency Services Tech, Mary Beth Larsen RN, Steve Malley Paramedic, Danielle McLinn RN, Kelly Medina RN, Ryan Menges RN, Phil Micksch RN, Clare Pekarek RN, Nahal Rahmanpanah RN, Randy Reimer Paramedic, Tyler Schmitt Paramedic, Renee Schweigl RN, Judi Stroud RN, Katie Tembreull RN, Jenny Ward RN, Krista Weston RN and Berdie Maigatter Patient Services Representative.