As I write this letter, B and I (his mom) are almost 6 weeks into our journey at Sick Kids. My son had a corpus callosotomy and was healing really well, with a few minor bumps along the way. After two weeks we were finally transferred to Bloorview where he would get the much-needed care he required before returning back home. B was feeling very sick while at Bloorview and after only three days we found ourselves back at Sick Kids in the Emergency department. We didn't know what was going on but we were almost certain he was having an allergic reaction to a new medication.
The doctors and nurses took B's illness very seriously from the moment we arrived by ambulance. Everything happened very fast. Doctors were coming and going, B was being hooked up to several machines and I was being asked question after question - it felt like a dream. Within a couple of hours B's illness progressed so fast and the doctors were almost certain that they knew what was happening. B was diagnosed with Stevens-Johnson Syndrome. Within a few hours we were on 7D and that's where we met Erin.
After not being home for almost three weeks, we were exhausted and terrified of what was happening. Erin met us in the room with a big smile and had a great way of keeping us calm. She made sure that we both felt supported and comfortable from the second we met her. Erin explained everything to us and made sure that the lines of communication were not always open between us but with the numerous doctors who kept coming and going. She had this great way of making sure that I always knew what was going on by checking in with me regularly. Erin would recap the information given to me by the doctors and piece them together for me so that I knew what every medication, IV, and test was for and why. The first 24 hours back at Sick Kids was extremely overwhelming and it was hard to remember who I was speaking to and any of the information that was being given to me. It felt like we had met over 30 doctors in the first 36 hours and Erin stayed in the room to support us and make sure that my questions and concerns were being heard the whole time.
Erin was not only our nurse but she became our advocate. We spent the night on 7D and by the afternoon B's illness spread so fast that the doctors and CCRT agreed he had to be transferred to the PICU. Before I knew it, our son was being intubated. The whole time Erin never left B's side. She stayed to help set our son up in the PICU and was so gentle and careful with her care. She always made sure that he was comfortable. One thing that always stood out to me was the fact that Erin would constantly talk to our son even though she knew he was non-verbal and couldn't respond. B would just stare at her - I immediately knew that he trusted her by the way he found comfort in her words.
Our son spent 11 days in the PICU. Erin came down to visit us four times. She would immediately great me with a hug then head straight over to him to let him know she was there and that everything would be okay. Erin would spend time talking to me, asking me if I was okay, and of course, making sure that I was eating, drinking, and getting some sleep. I would let her know what the doctors were saying, and if I was confused about something, she would offer her knowledge to explain things in a way that I could understand. The visits weren't long but the fact that she came down to see us during her breaks to make sure that we were okay and that we knew we were being thought of, made the stay in the PICU a little less lonely.
Erin is not only an exceptional nurse but an amazing woman. She has dried my tears, held me up when I could barely stand, hugged me when I needed it, and always made sure that I understood what was going on. Erin not only cared for our son's physical needs but his emotional and psychological needs as well. This journey would have been a lot more difficult if Erin didn't come into our lives. B and I will never forget the compassion and empathy Erin showed for us. When I think about Sick Kids I will always think about Erin and the selflessness, compassion, and empathy that she shows to those who need it the most.
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My nephew has been in SickKids since January 2020. Since that time, he has been in multiple departments: 5D, the ER, the PICU, and finally 7D. We have seen a countless number of nurses, at least 2 per day with every shift change. While the level of care has generally been excellent, there was one nurse that took care of him in 7D that really went above and beyond any nurse that we encountered over the past month and a half: Erin Mcginnis-Dunphy.
Erin has had a tremendous impact on the emotional well-being of not only my nephew but my sister (B's mother). From the first moment that she became B's nurse, when he was brought up from the ER to 7D, Erin demonstrated a level of care that we had not witnessed up until that moment. She really went out of her way to make him feel comfortable despite the fact that he is non-verbal and unable to communicate with strangers by speech. Erin did not find this to be a challenge - she interacted with him with such care and compassion that it had no bearing on how she treated him. It seemed to motivate her to work harder to connect with my nephew so that she could try her best to understand him and the pain that he was in.
From 7D, he was sent to the PICU after he was diagnosed with a rare and life-threatening skin condition. It did not matter that he had changed floors, Erin took it upon herself to visit B and his mom from time to time to check up on them and to offer her emotional support. When nurses and doctors are constantly changing shifts, and with the plethora of new faces every day, even these short visits meant a lot to us during a very stressful and scary time. Erin remained positive and optimistic at every visit; she truly felt like sunshine to us when we were facing so much darkness.
Eventually B recovered enough to be sent back to 7D. When this happened, we were elated to find out that Erin had requested to be his nurse. I really feel that having Erin as a nurse aided and promoted a quicker recovery for him. She became a familiar and friendly face, and he responded really well to it. It also reduced the amount of stress that his mom was feeling. My sister began to trust and rely on Erin, and this allowed for her to take more breaks and to care for herself and not just B. As a single mother with fewer resources than the average 2-parent couple, it cannot be stressed how much of an impact this had.
Finally, Erin ensured that my sister was very much involved in B's care whenever possible. She rarely left B's side and when Erin witnessed this, she involved his mom in his care in a way that the other nurses had not. Erin trusted her judgment and consulted her on the different aspects of his care, such as feeding schedules with the NG tube, etc. In addition, she relied on mom's intuition when things were potentially going wrong with her son, like when a blood clot was found in his PICC line. This was especially important when treating him because of his inability to communicate with speech any pain or discomfort that he was feeling. Erin really made such a strong and lasting impact on us. She demonstrated to us what it meant to have an exceptional nurse - somebody who goes above and beyond what their job description is. We cannot thank her enough for everything that she did for us.