Carla Hornung
July 2015
Carla
Hornung
,
RN
SICU-Surgical Intensive Care Unit
Froedtert Hospital
Milwaukee
,
WI
United States
... My husband was on his 29th day in the hospital due to necrotizing pancreatitis. He had been moved from a hospital in Mequon to the SICU at Froedtert for a few days, down to the floor at Froedtert and then back to the SICU. He was intubated, for a second time, and was not responding well to me or others around him. When I met Carla, I was distraught and discouraged. I didn't know if my husband would live. I timidly asked Carla if she thought my husband was so sick that he wouldn't make it. She was standing at her computer. She took one look back at my husband, looked at me, and said the words that got me through the next few months, "I've seen sicker people walk out of this hospital".
Throughout the next 61 days, Carla was the nurse who took care of my husband the most. She got to know him very well, and my whole family got to know her very well. She called the hospital on her week off to check on my husband. She answered all of the questions put to her by all family members. If she was uncertain of the answer, she didn't hesitate to find the person who could give us the answer.
On his 90th day, when my husband was being transferred to an LTACH, Carla stayed until the ambulance took him away, despite the fact that it was well beyond the end of her shift. She walked me through the things I should look for in his drains, in his secretions, and anything else she could think of to tell me about his condition. She was like a mom sending her child off to college!
Eleven days later, my husband was not doing well at the LTACH. I believe Carla was instrumental in getting him back to Froedtert, where he needed to be. I wrote an email to her which she shared with the team and because of her concern, he was moved back quickly.
While my husband had many fantastic nurses during his time at Froedtert, Carla has stood out as a nurse who doesn't think of her job as just a job. She genuinely cares for her patients as if they were her own family members.
I would not have made it through these difficult days if not for Carla. Her words are in my mind every day.
Throughout the next 61 days, Carla was the nurse who took care of my husband the most. She got to know him very well, and my whole family got to know her very well. She called the hospital on her week off to check on my husband. She answered all of the questions put to her by all family members. If she was uncertain of the answer, she didn't hesitate to find the person who could give us the answer.
On his 90th day, when my husband was being transferred to an LTACH, Carla stayed until the ambulance took him away, despite the fact that it was well beyond the end of her shift. She walked me through the things I should look for in his drains, in his secretions, and anything else she could think of to tell me about his condition. She was like a mom sending her child off to college!
Eleven days later, my husband was not doing well at the LTACH. I believe Carla was instrumental in getting him back to Froedtert, where he needed to be. I wrote an email to her which she shared with the team and because of her concern, he was moved back quickly.
While my husband had many fantastic nurses during his time at Froedtert, Carla has stood out as a nurse who doesn't think of her job as just a job. She genuinely cares for her patients as if they were her own family members.
I would not have made it through these difficult days if not for Carla. Her words are in my mind every day.