My kids have had to visit the office of Great Oaks several times over the past few months. Between their annual physicals, sick visits, and covid swabs we have been there at least 5 times. Every time we have been there Erica has been the nurse. I’m not sure how to put into words how amazing she is. My son is very anxious about doctor visits. He is always worried about getting a "shot" or not knowing what to expect. My son’s first covid swab went ok. But the second time we needed to have one done, he was a wreck. Screaming and crying, literally throwing himself on the floor. Erica was amazing. She never lost her cool, continued to try to talk him down from his anxiety. She was eventually able To swab him with the help of B’s dad to hold him. She then had to swab my daughter. She came into the room and did not look frazzled at all! I honestly don’t know how she looked so calm and this immediately put my daughter’s nerves at ease. She had heard her brother screaming in the other room and was so nervous her swab was going to hurt. But Erica, calmly, cool talked her through it and was able to do the swab without a problem.

At the kids' annual physical, Erica needed to give my son his flu vaccine, before the appt even started he was freaking out. We decided to do the nasal midst, which you would think would have been easier, but not for my son. He again completely freaked out. Erica took her time to explain the process. She was so calm and kind. She never seemed frustrated or made us feel rushed. It took several minutes, but she was able to get him to sit still and administer the midst.

Flash forward 32 weeks and my son needed to get the meningitis vaccine (an actual shot) and my daughter her flu vaccine. We tried to mentally prepare them both for this day. But when we arrived it was pure anxiety and fear for both. I saw Erica and was like "WE’RE BACK!!" She laughed and I asked if she had earplugs this time, so she won’t have hearing loss from my son’s screaming. She laughed again and said this can’t be any worse than the covid swab incident. I said, well we will see. My daughter then had a total meltdown about getting the flu shot. Erica calmly walked her through how she was going to give it to her. Showed her the band-aid, demonstrated how fast the shot is over with. She held her hand, took off my daughter’s facemask, asked her to take slow deep breaths, and really guided her through her anxiety. She gave her the shot and my daughter was like ok ouch but that wasn’t bad. I was truly in awe of Erica’s skills, kindness, and caring. We then went to my son’s room. Erica was prepared. She didn’t try to sugarcoat anything but was kind, direct, and honest. She said “B, I have the shot to give you, it’s going to pinch for one second and then we’re done” she went over and held his hand as she did with my daughter, walked him through some calming techniques, deep breathing, positive thoughts. B resisted at first. Saying, “Give me a minute.” So we would give him some time and he’d ask questions about how big the needle was and how long it would take. Erica walked him through the process about 3 times. Never seeming frustrated. I had to help hold his arm, but Erica was able to quickly administer the shot, without one peep from B. He did not scream or yell. And was really surprised how little it hurt.

For me, as a nurse myself, I know how hard it is to manage a patient's anxiety and I have never been a pediatric nurse, which I can only imagine makes it so much harder. As a mom, I cannot express my thanks enough to Erica for her kindness, caring, compassion and patience! Erica is truly the definition of an Extraordinary Nurse!