Michelle took care of a very critical patient for 3 shifts in a row. The family, especially his mother, was very stressed and constantly worried about the patient's condition and the plan of care. This type of family could have created a lot of stress and been difficult to deal with. However, Michelle made an extraordinary effort to help the family through the stressful time and to help transition the patient to a higher level of care when he needed it. She never got frustrated with how frequently the mother would call her into the room and even stayed with the patient instead of charting out of the room to closely monitor him and to make his mother feel more comfortable. The child was in a lot of pain and would get very anxious if the staff performed tasks without first explaining what they were planning to do. During all of this, Michelle remained compassionate and kept the patient and his needs as her priority. She made sure to tell every nurse and doctor who was going to interact with the patient that they needed to let him know what they were going to do before performing any interventions. Michelle truly impacted this patient and family's opinion of St. Louis Children's Hospital in the best way. She went above and beyond for this patient and family.
Michelle's patience and compassion with this family and situation impacted the rest of the staff in a positive way. Her positivity about the family and how they reacted helped to prevent the floor from viewing them as a "difficult family" and allowed the patient to transition to a higher level of care like he needed.