Katrina is what we consider a superstar of nurses among your fantastic staff of nurses with all that she did for not just our baby but also for us as worried parents. Our son C was born very early at 25 weeks gestation with IUGR. He was 540 grams with very sick lungs in spite of the prenatal steroid given. So he was intubated and on the jet ventilator for the first 3 months before he could move onto the conventional ventilator. During the first three months of life, he got critically ill 3 times in addition to many other challenges he faced. He has required a lot of special care in order to get him through both the daily and critical challenges.
For a baby like C, recognition of early signs of an acute event has been very important and therefore care with a consistent team has helped him tremendously. Katrina took the lead to make sure a more consistent team was on C's schedule, reaching out to other nurses directly and getting that coverage as much as possible. She has been an incredible resource for us as parents, helping us to understand C's status as well as the recommended treatments. Although we consider ourselves to be really great advocates for C, it has been so valuable to have someone like Katrina who is a medical professional who also has advocated for him and we knew we didn't need to worry while Katrina was on his schedule.
She also made sure we were taken care of as parents, especially during the tough days/nights, making sure we eat and stay hydrated or even just giving us hugs during incredibly scary and overwhelming times. She truly cares about our son and it shows. Katrina always made sure C's care made sense and raised concerns with the doctors when something seemed off. Examples are when C was over medicated per the orders in the system on morphine and she noticed the difference in his behavior. The doctors agreed to cut back the morphine, as we had all been aware it has been difficult enough to wean him off of that drug. She also took the lead on making sure the administration of medications and supplements were consistently done with his nurses. For example, he had a vent tube for a period of time. He was constantly spitting up his morphine and potassium. Some of his nurses were putting the doses through this tube. Some were putting the doses through his feeding tube, which is postpyloric. There were inconsistencies even with the doctors (fellow and interns vs attending) as to how it should be administered and also whether or not medicine spit up through the tube is still effective if you push it back in. Katrina took the lead on making sure everyone was on the same page. Comfort has been a very important factor for C with the correct dosing for pain. She managed the timing of daytime testing and exams in relation to how he was doing to make sure he was getting appropriate breaks to recover in between.
These are just a few of many examples of how Katrina went above and beyond for C and us. She also has incredible bedside manner, which is equally as important as her medical skill. Katrina's love of what she does for a living shines brightly every day. There are not enough words to describe our gratitude towards her.