Khadijah Kaba
August 2022
Khadijah
Kaba
,
BSN, RN
ICU
Missouri Baptist Medical Center
St. Louis
,
MO
United States
I observed her being extremely careful and attentive as she brushed his teeth, talked to my brother, and expressed to him what she is doing and was about to do.
When I first arrived to the hospital Wednesday evening after my flight from Dallas, my family and I gathered in the ICU waiting room. We were there anxiously awaiting the opportunity to see my brother once they finished the 24-hour dialysis setup.
A nurse enters the ICU waiting room and begins by introducing herself to EACH person in my family and shaking their hands individually. I was taken aback by this. So professional….so courteous….and intentional to understand who each family member was. There were 6 family members in the room. This nurse’s name was Khadijah.
Khadijah spends about 15 minutes or so giving us an update on my brother’s condition. None of my family members are in the medical field, as a result, a number of topics and terms were foreign to us. Khadijah proactively shared the situation in laymen’s terms. She was still met with a barrage of questions from everyone….and she patiently answered each question…. without frustration….and without irritation. Often answering the same question multiple times as different family members understood things differently.
Khadijah continued to ask us if there were more questions….and as more questions came up, she professionally and patiently continued to address them.
Fast forward to the time when we were allowed to finally go into his room. Khadijah stayed with us and proceeded to walk us through EACH MACHINE and express how we should interpret the values…. what’s good, what’s normal, what’s normal for him, and what the plan for him is. WOW!! Again, not only did she just spend 15 minutes or so prepping us in the ICU waiting room, but she took it upon herself to spend another 15 minutes or so walking through the equipment and answering our subsequent questions. She was VERY interested in making sure we had a full understanding of my twin brother’s situation.
Over the many hours that day and the subsequent days, I observed her being extremely careful and attentive as she brushed his teeth, talked to my brother, and expressed to him what she is doing and was about to do, even though he was heavily sedated and on the ventilator. She continued to engage the family members as well and made sure that if we had needs, she was willing to help us as well.
I looked for angel wings popping out of her uniform! How can this stranger be so attentive, so genuine, and caring towards my loved one?
A nurse enters the ICU waiting room and begins by introducing herself to EACH person in my family and shaking their hands individually. I was taken aback by this. So professional….so courteous….and intentional to understand who each family member was. There were 6 family members in the room. This nurse’s name was Khadijah.
Khadijah spends about 15 minutes or so giving us an update on my brother’s condition. None of my family members are in the medical field, as a result, a number of topics and terms were foreign to us. Khadijah proactively shared the situation in laymen’s terms. She was still met with a barrage of questions from everyone….and she patiently answered each question…. without frustration….and without irritation. Often answering the same question multiple times as different family members understood things differently.
Khadijah continued to ask us if there were more questions….and as more questions came up, she professionally and patiently continued to address them.
Fast forward to the time when we were allowed to finally go into his room. Khadijah stayed with us and proceeded to walk us through EACH MACHINE and express how we should interpret the values…. what’s good, what’s normal, what’s normal for him, and what the plan for him is. WOW!! Again, not only did she just spend 15 minutes or so prepping us in the ICU waiting room, but she took it upon herself to spend another 15 minutes or so walking through the equipment and answering our subsequent questions. She was VERY interested in making sure we had a full understanding of my twin brother’s situation.
Over the many hours that day and the subsequent days, I observed her being extremely careful and attentive as she brushed his teeth, talked to my brother, and expressed to him what she is doing and was about to do, even though he was heavily sedated and on the ventilator. She continued to engage the family members as well and made sure that if we had needs, she was willing to help us as well.
I looked for angel wings popping out of her uniform! How can this stranger be so attentive, so genuine, and caring towards my loved one?