July 2021
Amy
Skjonsberg
,
BSN, RN, CCRN
VAS
Seattle Children's Hospital
Seattle
,
WA
United States
I could see on the faces of the caregivers how much that meant to them and how big of a difference it made.
When I think back to when I decided I wanted to be a nurse, I had an idea in my head of the type of nurse I wanted to be. I wanted to be compassionate, driven, hardworking, and kind, and I wanted to go above and beyond for every patient I cared for. I quickly found that given the demands of the job and navigating the healthcare system, this is not easy to do! However, Amy embodies this type of nurse every day! When I first joined the VAS team back in August, I had a few orientation shifts with Amy, and I was floored by her energy and drive to always do the right thing for the patient. I remember a specific day where we removed 3 PICC lines in about an hour. We jumped from room to room, reviewing the patient charts, assessing the lines, removing them, dressing them, then heading to the next room. Amy could easily have just popped in out of the rooms and been on to the next patient. Instead, Amy took her time with each baby and explained to the caregivers what she was doing and why. From our perspective, it was just removing a PICC (not a huge deal) but for the family, I am sure it can be traumatizing to see a long catheter pulled from their brand-new baby's tiny foot. After completing each procedure, Amy would take special care to swaddle the babies and cuddle them for a minute or two to make sure they knew they were ok. I could see on the faces of the caregivers how much that meant to them and how big of a difference it made. Throughout the rest of the fellowship, I looked forward to working with Amy, when she was on shift, I knew it was going to be a great day! Amy made me feel comfortable asking her questions and always took extra time to explain things to me when I needed some extra help. Her dedication to the field of vascular access/infusion nursing is amazing and we are so lucky to have her on team VAS and team SCH! The perspective, expertise, compassion, and hard work that Amy brings to work every day is inspiring and I will work toward being a nurse like her someday!