Dad was in the hospital with a gall bladder attack. He failed the food test and was in agony. The pain caused his heart rate to become erratic and tachycardic. Amanda completely cared for the situation, contacted doctors, the stat nurse, other nurses on the floor and handled the crisis calmly and efficiently. Either the next day or the following day the surgeon was saying he would release Dad. But the heart rate was still crazy. The cardiologist had already signed off because he suspected the issue was just linked to the pain and would resolve once the pain resolved, but it did not. Amanda told me, "your dad is not ready to go home and he won't". She contacted all the appropriate people and got him looked at again by a cardiologist and finally got the heart rate issue resolved.
My mother is in a nursing home. My 'go to' mindset is that I have to keep track of what is happening in her care. I am constantly the advocate for the care she needs and that the care plan is followed. I worry that I am the overly controlling paranoid daughter that staff dreads. I never felt this way when Amanda was my dad's nurse. I didn't have to be his advocate because he had one and it was Amanda. I felt like Amanda was the one setting the tone. It was the respect shown for one another, the complete communication from Amanda that gave me confidence in the team. She never spoke disparagingly of a doctor's decision; she showed real confidence in them while still letting me know that what was said was not what would happen. She said, "He just hasn't noticed this yet. I'll make sure he does and your dad will not go home before he is ready."