Anna was my daughter's receiving PEDI ICU nurse when she arrived at Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital. H was transported by Lucile Packard’s Critical Care Transport Team from a hospital that was not able to care for her due to the severity of her situation. H was diagnosed with a massive DVT. It started near her umbilicus and ran down her left leg and extended through the arch of her left foot. She was critically ill, and Anna seemed to ease all the fears of my 17-year-old daughter. Anna’s soft tone of voice was soothing, her kindness overflowed in every interaction she had with H. She tended to her every need from her multiple requests for “the best apple juice and ice combination ever” to the care and soft touch she provided when she retaped one of her many IVs.

Anna communicated the goals of her shift with my daughter and empowered H to advocate for her needs. Anna tirelessly worked to get my daughter’s pain under control. She was always coming up with suggestions for the cramping due to the TPA that my daughter was on for her clotting - she suggested Valium to help the muscle spasms, which was the perfect addition to the cocktail of pain medications she was taking. My daughter had multiple surgeries while in the hospital for her DVT. About halfway through the hospital stay, Anna was determined to get my daughter's pain under control, which would lower her heart rate that was averaging in the 110-120 range, and get her to rest! H had not slept in at least 5 nights. Anna elevated the affected leg, put the blood circulation cuffs on both her legs, and packed her leg in ice packs. She requested melatonin for my daughter, put on some white noise, and advocated for all of her nighttime medications to be administered by IV so she didn’t have to wake her up.

Anna was so gentle that when she drew her fibrinogen levels from her central line, my daughter didn’t even stir. Due to Anna’s professionalism and amazing nursing care that night, my daughter turned the corner! Her leg swelling had decreased dramatically, she regained pedal pulses, and no longer required the Doppler to find them. My daughter felt comfortable with Anna to have personal conversations, she shared about her career goals and dreams, her college applications, her top school choices, and Anna listened intently. Anna took care of my daughter’s critical health, but she also showed her heart to my daughter by taking care of her emotional needs. In addition to that, Anna amazingly included me in all of the care that she could. We partnered to change her bed, rotate her position, and the two of us were a team when it came to the tough questions Hannah had about the severity of her illness. My daughter felt cared for physically, mentally, and emotionally. Words can’t express how grateful we were to have met Anna. She is a special human who happens to be our favorite Pedi ICU nurse! She is someone we will always be grateful that we met - she will be eternally thanked by our family and never forgotten!