Mandy took outstanding care of my 10 year old son during his difficult stay in the pediatric unit for a serious infection that involved a lot of pain. She went above and beyond to make him smile and ease the tensions that go along with having a sick child. Her responses when he called her were prompt, she answered with a smile on her face every time, and she made my son (and me) feel like he was her only patient. When his PICC line did not have a blood return, Mandy worked at it much longer than was necessary to try to avoid having to poke him. One of our inpatient days was my birthday and Mandy snuck in to help Max order me a slice of birthday cake. When Max's pain just wouldn't get under control, Mandy initiated a dialogue with the provider to change his meds and make him more comfortable. On our day of discharge, Mandy went the extra mile to make sure everything was in order- she checked on his meds and verified they were in route to pharmacy, made sure his lab orders were completed, followed up with case management. She knew how badly Max wanted to go home and she made sure all of our ducks were in a row to get us there.

Mandy left a lasting impact on our family. Max still talks about how wonderful she was to him and it's two weeks after his stay! Nurses like Mandy and her commitment to excellent patient care with every contact are what will keep her unit strong and successful. I would like to nominate Mandy for an Aurora Star in recognition of her commitment to quality care, her compassion, her willingness to be a patient advocate, and her efficiency as a nurse. Her hard work and sincere dedication to her patients deserves to be commended.