Hannah
Eberly
March 2020
Hannah
Eberly
,
BSN, RN
Intermediate Intensive Care Unit
Lancaster General Hospital
Lancaster
,
PA
United States

 

 

 

My husband was inpatient in LGH from 8/25/2018 to 9/4/2018, LGH Nursing 7 Frederick Hannah Eberly, RN was most often his day nurse. We all saw her as a shining hero.
We have six close grown family members who visited often during the day who all were impressed with Hannah's professionalism and communication skills. To this day we all remember Hannah with a sense of awe.
Why? Beyond her obvious nursing skills, we were grateful for the way she taught my husband informational facts he needed to understand about the possibility and process of the induced coma he faced because of his significant lung problems. From Hannah there was no molly coddling, just facts shared in perfect tone for a proud man to accept without losing face. And of course, this teaching took place while she performed her various nursing tasks for my 50+ years post-injury, SPC injured level C5-6 Quadriplegic husband.
G originally had absolutely no intention of accepting an induced coma while his lungs were treated. Hannah's teaching offered him understanding of the various factors built into procedure that made it more acceptable than he imagined.
As he listened and learned...G's position shifted until he was ready to accept the proposed process if medically necessary. Because my husband rarely changes from a nay to an aye, his decisional change was surprising. As time passed on and he was permitted to sit up in his chair his lungs began to clear so that step was never required. But because of Hannah's teaching gift, he would have been ready.
There was one more little piece of nursing skill with which Hannah blessed our family. One day Hannah was caring for G, there at the other end of the room, I choked on a small piece of fruit. I was told later that seeing my distress, Hannah left my husband's side to perform the Heimlich just before I collapsed. When my airway was cleared, Hannah calmly returned to G's side and her regular duties.
Can you catch a vision as to why Hannah left us with such a lasting sense of awe? Her quality of excellence affected our family, as a whole. As you note, G's hospitalization was not recent. Likely you wonder why there was such a passing of time before I wrote.
Only recently, as I culled old files, did I come upon The DAISY Foundation pamphlet, learning then there was/is an avenue to process such reports of excellence. Therefore, I am eager to share our experience with this excellent nurse.
Thank you for employing nurses of Hannah Eberly's quality. We are forever in your debt and most assuredly, in Hannah's. Because of her services, both "normal" and exceptional, we are forever blessed.