Christal Baldocchi
August 2023
Christal
Baldocchi
,
BSN, RN, VA-BC
MH PICC Services
Northwestern Medicine McHenry Hospital
McHenry
,
IL
United States

 

 

 

Christal did a phenomenal job with the central line placement. She spoke to my grandma with respect and kindness, and I cannot emphasize enough how much that meant to me.
My grandmother is almost 89 years old, and she has been in the hospital for weeks. I live 3.5 hours away, but I came to visit my grandma in the hospital. Besides not having the best hearing, my grandma is exhausted and often gets a lot of information thrown at her at once when her treatment plan is changing. She was told she would be getting a PICC line put in her arm. Christal took the time to explain to my grandma what the procedure would be like and how it will benefit her having the PICC line in throughout her stay. I started crying because I knew we would have to leave the room for the sterile procedure. I work in an emergency department out of state and assist with this procedure often. I asked Christal if there was any way I could stay in the room to talk to my grandma throughout the procedure. Christal and I talked about requirements and safety in a sterile procedure. I can't thank Christal enough for saying I could stay. My grandma looked at me and asked me if I could stay, and it made me so happy to be able to tell her I would stay with her; her face lit up. I held my grandma's hand under the sterile drape and talked to her the whole time. We talked and laughed, and I kept her distracted from all the poking. Christal did a phenomenal job with the central line placement. She spoke to my grandma with respect and kindness, and I cannot emphasize enough how much that meant to me. Christal made an incredibly big positive impact on my grandma's care. Thank you, Christal, you're a great nurse.