Our son was transferred to NY Presbyterian Children's Hospital early on a Sunday morning (1:30 am). He was intubated, sedated, and barely hanging on. As parents, it was our worst nightmare, and we were scared, exhausted, and overwhelmed with everything going on. It wasn't until later in the morning that we could process and things settled down a bit.

Izabella (Izzy) was the first nurse that was assigned to our son that morning, and she ended up being his nurse for six of the eight days that he was intubated. His mother and I thank god that she was. Izzy was empathetic and caring from the start and treated us like we were a member of her own family. It was obvious from the beginning how incredibly knowledgeable and adept at her job she is. The way that she was on top of everything and took the time to explain everything to us in terms that we could understand made us feel very confident and a little more at ease at a time when we were still very much on edge. Every interaction with our son was done with an element of caring that was greatly appreciated.

Even though he was sedated, she treated him as though he was awake and there with us. There were times that he was having trouble with the sedation medicine and would wake up a little and try to fight the tubes and wires in and on him. She was always right there to help calm him down and always kept her cool, which was especially helpful for us parents that were freaking out the first couple of times that happened. She figured out that he liked Imagine Dragons (they apparently had that in common) and was always right there to play some music for him to help calm him down. The connection she seemed to have with our son went far above what was expected from someone.

In a truly selfless act, she brought in a bag full of activities, games, and puzzles for our son. It wasn't just one or two things, but like seven, and the selection of items showed that she had listened to things when we were talking about him and what he likes to do because they were all things that were perfect for him. I meant so much that she thought enough to spend her own time and money to try and help make his stay a little better once he was awake. We were moved to tears by her generosity. I cannot speak highly enough about Izzy. Her compassion, caring, knowledge, skill, and ability as a nurse cannot be overstated. She helped my wife and I through the hardest week of our lives, took amazing care of our son and still looked out for us as well. Not to mention her skill (borderline obsession) with keeping all of the many tubes, wires, and hoses organized. The cooperative relationship with the rest of his medical team also showed what a valuable front-line member of the care team she is.  In a unit that is full of pretty exceptional nurses, she stood out above the rest.