Amy Frankel
August 2022
Amy
Frankel
,
BSN, RN
General Pediatrics
Advocate Children's Hospital
Oak Lawn
,
IL
United States
My son felt so safe in Amy‛s care. As a parent, there is nothing you can ask for more than the feeling of security at such a frightening time.
Putting into words the way Amy helped my son and I throughout the past few months is no easy task. While we were ecstatic for my son to ring his bell and continue back to our normal lives, we both realized we wouldn’t see this incredible nurse we had grown to love anymore. Amy was there for many highs and lows during our time of healing at Lutheran General, so many intimate moments, she had become family.
I remember the first time we met her, after a visit to the ER, she walked us up to our room and immediately connected with my son helping him feel calm and safe. Amy has a way of reading the room easily and always knew if we needed to hear a joke and have a laugh, or if we were feeling down and just needed to know she was there.
On good days that we were simply passing the time, my son and I would wait in anticipation until Amy would come back in the room to give him meds, or just check in. You see, when Amy came in the room, we would often forget why we were there in the first place. She would entertain us with her silly jokes and stories and we would often laugh until we cried. Amy was an amazing listener and grew to learn everything about our son. She learned so much about him in such a short time. Amy knew all of My son‛s favorites and interests and was always engaging in conversation, which gave him a sense of normalcy at the most horrible time in his life.
On bad days, when my son needed more attention, Amy made him feel like her top priority, her #1. My son felt so safe in Amy‛s care. As a parent, there is nothing you can ask for more than the feeling of security at such a frightening time. When my son was feeling sad about gaining weight, she got down on her knees and looked at him eye to eye. She asked him to hold a bag of IV fluids so he could understand the weight of the fluids and how they affected his body. He perked right up and ordered his lunch. Amy has such a gift of relating to children and talking to them in a way that makes sense.
When my son had the most horrible headache one afternoon, I actually caught Amy running down the hallway with his meds. She came in the room, out of breath from the rush and quickly gave my son the medicine to relieve his pain. I believe some of his pain was immediately relieved by the kindness he felt from his nurse literally running to get him the medication.
I could write pages and pages of examples of how Amy has gone above and beyond to make our boy feel like a million bucks during the darkest days of his life. Amy is kind, patient, funny, genuine, and 1000% love. We are all better for knowing her and our family is forever grateful.
I remember the first time we met her, after a visit to the ER, she walked us up to our room and immediately connected with my son helping him feel calm and safe. Amy has a way of reading the room easily and always knew if we needed to hear a joke and have a laugh, or if we were feeling down and just needed to know she was there.
On good days that we were simply passing the time, my son and I would wait in anticipation until Amy would come back in the room to give him meds, or just check in. You see, when Amy came in the room, we would often forget why we were there in the first place. She would entertain us with her silly jokes and stories and we would often laugh until we cried. Amy was an amazing listener and grew to learn everything about our son. She learned so much about him in such a short time. Amy knew all of My son‛s favorites and interests and was always engaging in conversation, which gave him a sense of normalcy at the most horrible time in his life.
On bad days, when my son needed more attention, Amy made him feel like her top priority, her #1. My son felt so safe in Amy‛s care. As a parent, there is nothing you can ask for more than the feeling of security at such a frightening time. When my son was feeling sad about gaining weight, she got down on her knees and looked at him eye to eye. She asked him to hold a bag of IV fluids so he could understand the weight of the fluids and how they affected his body. He perked right up and ordered his lunch. Amy has such a gift of relating to children and talking to them in a way that makes sense.
When my son had the most horrible headache one afternoon, I actually caught Amy running down the hallway with his meds. She came in the room, out of breath from the rush and quickly gave my son the medicine to relieve his pain. I believe some of his pain was immediately relieved by the kindness he felt from his nurse literally running to get him the medication.
I could write pages and pages of examples of how Amy has gone above and beyond to make our boy feel like a million bucks during the darkest days of his life. Amy is kind, patient, funny, genuine, and 1000% love. We are all better for knowing her and our family is forever grateful.