I can't begin to describe the impact Cristen had on my mom's life. My mom fell and broke both arms and had a brain bleed. This occurred the day before her birthday, which she shares with my daughter. We needed the bleed to stabilize so that she could have surgery on her elbow. Cristen collaborated with the Orthopedic surgeons as soon as we had a stable scan. She collaborated with OR to get things moving, only to be stalled for clearance for my mom's pacemaker. Then she collaborated with Cardiology and Medtronic.

Knowing how upset I was that it was my mom and daughter's birthday, she hugged me and convinced me to go home during the surgery instead of sitting around waiting, so I could sing Happy Birthday to my daughter. She showed such compassion for my mom that she made me feel comfortable enough to leave so I could see my child open her presents on her birthday, which was emotional for her too, even at 8, as she is very aware that she shares her birthday with her "G." When I returned a few hours later, Cristen had made my mom her own Happy Birthday sign for her door. 

Even from the get-go, Cristen treated my mom like the VIP she is, but  I feel in my heart that Cristen probably treats all her patients this way. Not only is she knowledgeable and does her job well, but she is also relatable, getting to know her patients, sharing her own life, making her patients and families feel normal and respected even when they are at their most vulnerable. When she returned to work a few days later, my mom could even say, "How was your trip!?" and she shared pictures of her children and her family from her weekend. Cristen made me feel that my mom was safe and supported at all times, even when I couldn't be there. This kindness is not easily found these days. I would like Cristen's parents to know what a beautiful and kind person they raised. Advocate is very lucky to have such a nurse on their team!