It goes without saying that the work in the Burn Unit is hard and, for patients, incredibly painful. My 20-year-old son became a patient in the Burn Unit due to being a passenger in a car that was in a terrible accident, leaving my son with extensive burns and his friend in the car killed. 

J was in the Burn Unit for 5 1/2 weeks and was struggling with survivor guilt, confusion, anger, and pain. While many of the staff in the Burn Unit were great, James was an outstanding care provider who truly was able to connect and communicate with my son. James was direct, compassionate, and responsive. He was able to "connect" with my son by speaking WITH my son versus talking AT my son. With his extensive burns and numerous surgeries to address skin grafts and the debriding, James was ever so supportive and helpful for my son to understand the treatment, the healing, and his journey. As the parent of a patient, I knew my son was being cared for, in addition to having a healthcare provider who "got" my son's journey.