My granddaughter, B, had been in the hospital for some time when one day I asked Brianna a few questions about what may be next for B. Brianna suggested that I speak with the doctor and team during "rounds" to ensure I understood the plan for B. I explained to Brianna that I was not certain whether my questions were redundant, crazy or what, so I mostly used the "rounds" time to listen. Brianna gave me a blank post-it note and a pen and asked me, "what do you want to know?" Thinking that she was going to get the answers for me, I told her one question I had and she stated, "that sounds like a sensible question to me, write that down." I did, and she asked me, "what else do you want to know?" I told her and she said, "yes, that sounds like a good question too, write it down." I soon realized that every question I relayed to Brianna was going to be a good question to her, but she indulged me until I finished. I had four questions. She then said, "when the team rounds, ask those questions you have written down."
Upon the doctor and team making rounds, I was not certain I was going to ask the questions, but Brianna miraculously ended up in the room caring for B during rounds. I did not want her to see me chicken-out, so I read through each question and the doctor politely answered each one. When the team moved on, the Charge Nurse lagged back and asked Brianna if she needed anything and then she turned to me and said, "good questions." Of course, I looked at Brianna but she never looked away from caring for B nor acknowledged whether she heard the Charge Nurse, but I saw her smile.
While I believe the adage that the only stupid question is the one unasked, it's sometimes difficult to formulate your questions when you are speaking with others who appear to be so knowledgeable in an area you know nothing about. This is how I was feeling. However, Brianna took the time to listen to me and reignited that adage I've known but, in this case, refused to apply. I also believe she sensed my hesitation and made it a point to be inside the room with me when the team rounded. This indeed gave me the confidence and encouragement to forge ahead. I did - and have not stopped engaging with the team since.
In addition to being the awesome nurse Children's expects, Brianna is an awesome person who took additional time to caringly identify my problem (I thought my questions may be stupid), provide a solution (allowed me to run the questions by her and write them down) and stood by my side through execution. She would have still been awesome had she not given me this extra time, but because she did, to me, she's super awesome!