After my son’s open-heart surgery at Mott Children’s Hospital, he had a complicated recovery that required him to stay intubated on the ventilator for longer than was expected. He had to stay on the sedation medications during that time, so when they began to try to get him off the medications, his body started to show signs of withdrawal.

Because of an extensive gut injury that he developed after heart surgery, he could not take the typical medication to help with the withdrawal. He was very uncomfortable and difficult to console. Taylor was our nurse for several of those long nights when he was sick, uncomfortable, and delirious. Taylor was incredible in her attentiveness to him, her patience with him, and her care for me as I stayed at the bedside with him through the night.

When my son was still intubated, she tried comforting measures before giving him more medication, if it was safe to do so. She was constantly there for him, so I was confident he was safe. Once he was extubated, Taylor never once showed any sort of annoyance or impatience as he screamed for hours each night. In between the medical care he needed, she would stand at his bedside and console him constantly, trying different calming methods until she found one that soothed him. When that method stopped working, she would try several more until she found the next.

She let me sleep when I could, and I was able to get the rest that I needed because I knew my son was being cared for and truly loved. Aside from Taylor’s incredible compassion, she was an excellent advocate for him. There were a few times that communication was missed between medical teams, but Taylor always made sure all the labs and imaging he needed throughout the night were ordered and completed correctly. Taylor was truly an angel during some of our worst nights, bringing comfort and compassion to both my son and me. She gave me the confidence to be able to rest during that incredibly stressful time, which speaks volumes to Taylor’s nursing care.