Our three-year-old son has been hospitalized for 100+ days awaiting a heart transplant. During his first three weeks, our [his parents] life stood still as his care team put him on multiple methods of life support and listed him for transplant. Once the team could finally start weaning his sedation about a month in, G struggled to get on a consistent routine. In addition to not being on a schedule, he was wary of almost all of the members of his care team.

About a month into our stay, we (his parents) were past exhaustion. Neither of us could stay awake in the middle of the night when our toddler was ready to socialize. Annika read to our son and played with him through the wee hours of the morning until he was ready to sleep. This time she spent with him was a turning point in his care. He gravitated toward Annika and her loving caring personality. Because of this trust she built, he started opening up to nurses inviting them in and asking them to play with him.

Our son’s personality emerged as he started shedding his guarded exterior. Annika has become a core member of his care team. She has built a relationship with the attendings on his care team and advocates for medical decisions that are in his best interest. This speaks to Annika’s balance of professionalism and bedside manner. Because of Annika I [mom] can leave the room regardless of which nurse is caring for him because she showed my son that the nurses are on his team. Thank you, Annika, for the time you put into building that relationship with him. I don’t know if we would have gotten to see his perfect (to us) personality without you.