During my recent stay at Christ Hospital, I had the pleasure of being taken care of by the most thoughtful, caring, and genuine nurse, Colleen Richards. I stayed on 6-South for three nights and was so thankful that Colleen was my nurse all three of those nights. I am a kidney transplant recipient and am currently awaiting another kidney. Colleen provided an extremely high level of care. She made me and my wife feel like family and made a difficult hospital stay seem enjoyable.
The excellent service began when Colleen came down to pick me up from the Emergency Department. Although another staff member was there to transport me from the ER to 6-South, Colleen came down to introduce herself, make sure that we had everything we needed, and to ensure the trip went smoothly. On the trip, I found out that she had already met and taken care of my father, who had shown up on 6-South looking for me, although I was still in the Emergency Department. Once we were settled in our room, I had to go downstairs for a CT scan. Colleen transported me to a test on another floor, and stayed there during my test and then transported me back. Before we left to go downstairs, she thoroughly explained to my wife what the procedure would entail and put her mind at ease.
Upon returning to my room, I informed Colleen that I was scheduled to have several tests on Tuesday as an outpatient in preparation for my kidney transplant. My doctor had been concerned about whether I would be able to have them done, considering I was currently an in-patient. Colleen checked out what I was having done, and contacted the necessary people to ensure I could have my tests run.
Throughout the night, Colleen did her best to allow me and my wife to sleep, while still checking on me, making sure I had the proper medicines, and doing periodic checks of my vitals and blood pressure, which was the major issue the doctors were concerned about. She has the unique ability to make her patients smile, even when waking them up at 3:00 a.m.
Over the three nights that Colleen took care of me, she consistently went out of her way to make my family and me feel special. Whether it was simply sharing a laugh or story, calling in an IV specialist to stick me when I needed a new IV, or always making sure my pain was well managed and I was comfortable, Colleen treated me as if I was the most important patient on the floor. The last night that I was on 6-South, the doctors had informed us that my blood work in the morning would determine whether or not I needed to go on dialysis. I had decided that I wanted to be as hydrated as possible and asked Colleen to wake me up at various intervals throughout the night so that I could drink water. Not only did Colleen wake me up and make sure I was drinking, but she made the entire process a fun game. Before going to sleep, my wife and I, as well as Colleen and Brittney, my PCA, made guesses as to what my creatinine level would be. Colleen put all of our guesses on the whiteboard in the room and I had a goal to shoot for. When my blood results came back right before the shift change, Colleen came in and excitedly told me that she had won and that my creatinine level was actually lower than any of our guesses. I didn't have to go on dialysis and I got to leave the hospital and come home!
I am still awaiting a kidney transplant as soon as it can be arranged, and I expect to spend some more time at Christ Hospital. Although I do not look forward to the tough times ahead, I am thankful for the excellent care I received at Christ, and am so glad that there are phenomenal people like Colleen who are there to take care of me and my family. She is not only an exceptional nurse but has a servant heart and truly desires the best for her patients and their families.