I am writing in appreciation of the extraordinary nursing care that was provided by Colleen McFadden during my one-year-old daughter’s emergency room visit. S had been diagnosed with a metabolic disorder called OTC-D the prior week (after a stay at CHOP), and in the morning she woke up and rapidly became unresponsive, so we rushed to the ER. Ms. McFadden was our nurse in the ER, and she was instrumental in ensuring that the ammonia blood draw was ordered and performed as soon as possible. She clearly understood the lines of communication, and where things could get held up, and worked to make sure that this lab was drawn immediately.

As a parent who was experiencing the most traumatic hours of my entire life, the urgency with which she worked provided an extraordinary source of comfort. Ms. McFadden was also the first to recognize that my daughter was displaying signs of seizure. Indeed, it turned out that my daughter’s episode was not due to high ammonia levels as we were focused on due to the recent diagnosis, but rather seizure activity. Ms. MacFadden’s early and astute recognition of this ultimately led to the faster administration of medication to stop the seizure.

Ms. McFadden went above and beyond in every respect in terms of her compassion, communication, nursing skills, and quality of care provided. As a mother, it was an unbearable experience to see my young daughter so ill that she could not respond at all to pain or even the sound of my voice. I will forever be grateful for the extraordinary and attentive care that Ms. McFadden provided to my daughter during this time.