Jeanie Bollinger
May 2013
Jeanie
Bollinger
,
BSN, RN, CCRN, CSC
Cardiovascular ICU
Mission Hospital
Asheville
,
NC
United States
My sister spent six days in CVICU, after having surgery on her right lung to repair damage from severe pneumonia and an abscess in the lower half of her lung. Though my sister has an exceptional IQ, she lives with Cerebral Palsy which limits her motor and communication skills. Jeanie went above and beyond the required care with my sister, but took extra time and effort to learn to understand and communicate with her directly, without constantly requiring assistance from us. She even took time to dance with her and "talk music and movies" with her. Though my sister was glad to leave ICU, she was sorry to not be able to see Jeanie any more. We were/are so thankful for the kindness and concern she showed to my sister.
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My Dad had an AAA rupture emergency surgery and was in the ICU for 21 days. Jeanie was his weekend nurse on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday for three weeks, so she took care of him for nine days. This lady was the best. Her care for my dad, I thought was way beyond her normal duties. She made sure my family was well informed about the condition of my dad. Any time I could call Jeanie and talk to her about my dad's condition, or what I could expect about his recovery, or even what her suggestion was for him. My dad had not been to a doctor in probably over 50 years - much less ever been in a hospital so all this medical stuff was new to us. After he had been there for about 20 days, it was Jeanie's suggestion to the doctor that he needed to get out of ICU, if he was going to recover.
Jeanie is the kind of nurse you could ask any question and she would explain so I could understand, not just use the big medical words. So after 38 days between Mission, St. Joseph and Care Partners my dad got to go home. I called Jeanie back, to let her know he was going home. She was so excited to hear from me, she said she never knows what happens to her patients when they leave. So for a year now, we tell my dad the story of Nurse Jeanie, all that she did for him, and what a great person she was. He did not remember even being in the ICU unit, so he kept saying, I am going back over to meet her. Well here's where this story gets interesting.
Almost one year later my dad was back at Mission to have a defibrillator put in, and that was on a Friday, "the shift that Jeanie works". I thought as a surprise, I would try to call her, to see if she remembered him or me after a year. Well I was very surprised, she got on the phone with me, and talked like I was an old friend, I told her what was going on, with my dad and what room he was in. She said I will be down to see him on my break. I went back and told my dad - guess who you're going to get to meet. The expression on his face said it all. About an hour later in walked Nurse Jeanie. He got up out of bed with a giant smile and gave her a big hug, and began to tell her what had been happening with him in the last year. We also got a picture of them together. Now I know that is not normal procedure to do all that for a patient. Jeanie is a very special nurse - she sat and talked to him about 20 minutes. After she left, my dad kept saying, I can't believe she came to visit me, a year later.
So then my dad began to tell every doctor, nurse and every visitor he had about the visit from Jeanie. So that's my story of Nurse Jeanie, I will never forget her, for number one the care she gave my dad but also the joy she gave him that day by taking time from her busy schedule just to say hello.
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My Dad had an AAA rupture emergency surgery and was in the ICU for 21 days. Jeanie was his weekend nurse on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday for three weeks, so she took care of him for nine days. This lady was the best. Her care for my dad, I thought was way beyond her normal duties. She made sure my family was well informed about the condition of my dad. Any time I could call Jeanie and talk to her about my dad's condition, or what I could expect about his recovery, or even what her suggestion was for him. My dad had not been to a doctor in probably over 50 years - much less ever been in a hospital so all this medical stuff was new to us. After he had been there for about 20 days, it was Jeanie's suggestion to the doctor that he needed to get out of ICU, if he was going to recover.
Jeanie is the kind of nurse you could ask any question and she would explain so I could understand, not just use the big medical words. So after 38 days between Mission, St. Joseph and Care Partners my dad got to go home. I called Jeanie back, to let her know he was going home. She was so excited to hear from me, she said she never knows what happens to her patients when they leave. So for a year now, we tell my dad the story of Nurse Jeanie, all that she did for him, and what a great person she was. He did not remember even being in the ICU unit, so he kept saying, I am going back over to meet her. Well here's where this story gets interesting.
Almost one year later my dad was back at Mission to have a defibrillator put in, and that was on a Friday, "the shift that Jeanie works". I thought as a surprise, I would try to call her, to see if she remembered him or me after a year. Well I was very surprised, she got on the phone with me, and talked like I was an old friend, I told her what was going on, with my dad and what room he was in. She said I will be down to see him on my break. I went back and told my dad - guess who you're going to get to meet. The expression on his face said it all. About an hour later in walked Nurse Jeanie. He got up out of bed with a giant smile and gave her a big hug, and began to tell her what had been happening with him in the last year. We also got a picture of them together. Now I know that is not normal procedure to do all that for a patient. Jeanie is a very special nurse - she sat and talked to him about 20 minutes. After she left, my dad kept saying, I can't believe she came to visit me, a year later.
So then my dad began to tell every doctor, nurse and every visitor he had about the visit from Jeanie. So that's my story of Nurse Jeanie, I will never forget her, for number one the care she gave my dad but also the joy she gave him that day by taking time from her busy schedule just to say hello.