Amber is a nurse I work with in MICU. I am a newer nurse and aspire to be just like her. We have been working as a COVID-19 until about a week ago and it has been incredibly difficult for many of us on the unit. Amber has pushed through all of this and continually been an amazing nurse caring for patients.
My specific story involves a man we received on our unit from COVID complications. There were times we thought he would not make it through the night. Amber cared for this man many times and every time thought of ways to hopefully help this man out of the unit. We had so many losses, we just needed a win. This patient ended up medically paralyzed and was intubated and eventually ended up needing a tracheostomy. I witnessed Amber going into this patient's room many times and spending hours in there with him just trying to make him comfortable and speaking with his family keeping them informed about what was going on. She would make sure his hair was brushed and neat and he was always clean when she had him. There was a language barrier, but this never hindered Amber. We got to send this man home this week and the whole unit cried. Amber was caring for him and wheeled him out of the unit crying with the patient. It was a huge victory for our unit, and I know it was a team effort, but I believe Amber made a huge impact on this man's life and future.