After having a stressful day of surgery and a rough time trying to control my son's pain in the recovery room, we were finally able to be transferred to the pediatric unit. Upon our arrival, we were received by Angel, who was minutes away from ending her shift. This didn't matter to her and she took care of my son's pain before leaving her shift. The night arrived and that's where we had some issues with pain management. Even though we were expecting a rough post-surgery night the issue of pain management during the night shift made it worse.
I thank God that He helped my son make it through the best he could and blessed us with a new morning and a nurse whose name fits very well; we were blessed with Angel. The moment she entered the room and she saw my son's tears those tears became her main concern. She reassured him that she was going to take care of his pain and she did. She made sure that he got his medications on time, explained directly to him the times he could have them, and what to expect from the medication reactions. She would come in the room to check how he was doing after receiving the medications even if she was busy, and when she wasn't able to be in the room at the expected time she would come in and tell him she would be in soon.
When taking care of his dressing change she used every infection control policy, but most important she made sure he was ready for the dressing change. She would ask him when he wanted the dressing change to be, making sure he wasn't in pain at that moment. When changing the dressing she took the time to take the old one off and was very gentle to the point that my son didn't realize the old dressing was already off. During this process she diverted his attention by talking to him about regular kid stuff.
When the day was over, I saw and felt her concern over his pain management when handing over to the next nurse. My son was looking forward to having Angel as his nurse the next morning and when the next morning arrived and he saw her he said, "my Angel is here Mommy". To hear that from my son just proves that she is what every child and family needs when we are hospitalized. Angel is a genuine caring nurse, a nurse who does her job from her heart, and yes, she also took care of my son's concerns and pain. The pediatric unit and St. Joseph's Baptist Hospitals should be proud to have such a great nurse on their team. Little did Angel know, but she was taking care of a patient whose mom is also a registered nurse. Thank you, Angel, for taking great care of my son. You will forever be in our prayers. May God bless you always.