My daughter has been in the hospital for 8 days with pancreatitis. When she first arrived at Children’s a bed was not available, so she had to start down in the Emergency Room. She has had a variety of day and night nurses coming and going once she was placed in RC 5, as you can imagine. One of my daughter’s first day nurses was Jaylee, and she was so compassionate, kind, and caring that she quickly made my daughter feel comfortable. When we arrived, my daughter had been sick with the stomach flu for over a week and had both diarrhea and vomiting after eating or drinking anything. It became clear that she would need an NG tube, and this was very traumatic for her and took several attempts before she would allow them to get it in. My daughter had become very angry and emotionally defeated by this point. 

The next day, my daughter was very sad and angry about the NG tube and wanted it out very badly. The doctors let her know it had to stay. The nurse that day was kind and helpful, but my daughter remained very uncomfortable and upset. Yesterday Jaylee returned, and everything seemed to change. Her positive attitude, compassion, and general presence seemed to really calm my daughter and change her attitude. Jaylee is very engaging and friendly, and general in her approach. She has been extremely patient and accommodating. She has gone out of her way to ensure that every question my daughter has had Is being addressed. When Jaylee says she will be “right back” or back at a certain time, she always is. She never has come across rushed or acted like she has somewhere else to be. She has always seemed to have enough time for my daughter as well as family. She will pop in at scheduled times but also sometimes in between to check in and offer to heat up my daughter’s heat pad or bring her more hot chocolate. Each day she has really taken time to read all of the notes from not only the day or night before but further back, and has caught some discrepancies that she has brought to the doctors’ attention. My daughter was worried about who her night nurse would be, and Jaylee told her who the two were that were coming on shift, and said she would see if my daughter could get who she wanted of the two and did. 

My daughter’s biggest request now is to get her NG tube out and Jaylee has said that she is going to be an advocate for this to happen as soon as possible should my daughter keep eating well. Jaylee is staying on top of the calorie counting and encouraging my daughter to keep eating and drinking, and recommending different things to try. She is staying on top of the MiraLAX as well. Her whole approach is just so different and encouraging and personal. She feels like more of a really caring family member than a nurse. She has a very unique ability to connect with the patient and family right away, which has not only earned our trust but made such a difference in my daughter’s outlook, attitude, and motivation. We honestly look forward to each of her visits to our room. She is exactly the type of nurse you want working for you. 

Today I watched her training a new assistant, and she had the same kind of patient soft approach with the trainee as well.