Erik Knautz
May 2022
Erik
Knautz
,
BSN, RN
Pediatric Cardiac Inpatient Critical Care
Children's Wisconsin
Milwaukee
,
WI
United States
He did everything he could to distract me from my miserable state and he was an amazing cheerleader for me whenever I achieved a step along my recovery. I’ll never forget the hundreds of “I’m so freaking proud of you man!”
I came to Children’s by a Flight For Life helicopter due to serious staph infection endocarditis. I was scared for my life, as I could feel my heart dying due to infection. However, I had some incredible nurses who reassured me and cared for me, the most exceptional being Erik. I had Erik for most of that week and he became family on the first day. He reminded me of an uncle. Every time he entered the room, he lifted my spirits with his fun sense of humor, kept me feel informed about every single thing that was happening, and most of all, made me feel safe because I trusted him. His expertise in nursing reassured me that I was getting the best care possible. There was one time when I had to go down for an MRI and I was scared because I had a previous traumatic experience with MRIs. Erik recognized this and reassured me the entire way down to the MRI room that it would be ok, and it meant so much to know that he had my back.
Fast forward about 3-4 weeks and I had just worked up from open heart surgery. Lots had gone wrong and I woke up intubated. I was devastated that I couldn’t talk, eat, or drink to the point where it felt like a living hell. I was beyond thirsty and I couldn’t have anything to drink due to the risk of infection. While I was recovering my lungs to get extubated, I thankfully had Erik on my team. The days when Erik was my nurse were the best days. He did everything he could to distract me from my miserable state and he was an amazing cheerleader for me whenever I achieved a step along my recovery. I’ll never forget the hundreds of “I’m so freaking proud of you man!”. Erik deserves the DAISY Award for being an exceptional nurse who supported me beyond what others did throughout my entire medical journey.
***
Erik was our primary nurse for the 7 weeks we were in the CICU. Erik started with us when our son was flown in from Peoria, IL when we were still trying to figure out how bad our son's infection was. Erik was the PERFECT nurse for A. He set the tone for how our entire hospital experience went. Erik listened to A, watched movies with him when he could, stayed with him through procedures at the bedside, and went above and beyond to make A's stay as comfortable as we could. Erik had the innate sense of when to push A and when to give him more support. He encouraged him and was a major cheerleader for A, celebrating the tiny milestones as well as the huge hurdles. He was always excited to see us when he came in and even picked up a day or two to give us continuity. Erik was instrumental in keeping A's mood lifted and played a major role in his recovery. We are so grateful that Erik was assigned to us, and that we got to spend as much time with him as we did. Erik has a gift and we feel blessed we got to be the recipients of it. Thank you, Erik, for being exactly the nurse A (and us) needed!
Fast forward about 3-4 weeks and I had just worked up from open heart surgery. Lots had gone wrong and I woke up intubated. I was devastated that I couldn’t talk, eat, or drink to the point where it felt like a living hell. I was beyond thirsty and I couldn’t have anything to drink due to the risk of infection. While I was recovering my lungs to get extubated, I thankfully had Erik on my team. The days when Erik was my nurse were the best days. He did everything he could to distract me from my miserable state and he was an amazing cheerleader for me whenever I achieved a step along my recovery. I’ll never forget the hundreds of “I’m so freaking proud of you man!”. Erik deserves the DAISY Award for being an exceptional nurse who supported me beyond what others did throughout my entire medical journey.
***
Erik was our primary nurse for the 7 weeks we were in the CICU. Erik started with us when our son was flown in from Peoria, IL when we were still trying to figure out how bad our son's infection was. Erik was the PERFECT nurse for A. He set the tone for how our entire hospital experience went. Erik listened to A, watched movies with him when he could, stayed with him through procedures at the bedside, and went above and beyond to make A's stay as comfortable as we could. Erik had the innate sense of when to push A and when to give him more support. He encouraged him and was a major cheerleader for A, celebrating the tiny milestones as well as the huge hurdles. He was always excited to see us when he came in and even picked up a day or two to give us continuity. Erik was instrumental in keeping A's mood lifted and played a major role in his recovery. We are so grateful that Erik was assigned to us, and that we got to spend as much time with him as we did. Erik has a gift and we feel blessed we got to be the recipients of it. Thank you, Erik, for being exactly the nurse A (and us) needed!