Not only Bobbie's clinical skills but more importantly the compassion she showed to me and my family on the "worst" day of our lives was extraordinary. First, let me start by saying I am a cardiac nurse at a hospital in the Lehigh Valley. During the last half hour of our drive across the state my husband, J, began to complain that he was uncomfortable. When we arrived at my daughter's house, it was evident that he was having an MI. EMS was immediately called and we were taken to the Westmoreland campus of Excela Health. J was diagnosed with a STEMI and would need a cardiac cath immediately. While waiting for the Cath Lab to be ready, J cardiac arrested twice. The first time needing CPR and the second time CPR and was shocked twice. While I cannot tell you exactly what Bobbie did in the room during the cardiac arrest, I can say that everyone that was in that room saved J's life. Every single person (nurses, techs, and physicians) acted quickly, professionally and showed extraordinary clinical skill. It was amazing to be an outsider watching how well this team worked together to save a life.
What made Bobbie stand out? After J coded for the second time and while they were intubating him, she came up to me and asked if I had anyone coming to be with me. I said, "yes my daughter had just arrived to the waiting room." She took me to the hallway leading to the waiting room so I could see my daughter walking in and my daughter could quickly find me. Next, as J was being taken to the Cath Lab she made sure my daughter and I were able to say something to him. She assured my daughter that even though J was intubated he could hear her. Of course, my daughter says to him "you're still not getting out of going to the zoo tomorrow." Bobbie allowed me to tell my husband that I loved him which up to that point I had not done. My daughter had just arrived and this was the first time seeing him. Even though she is an adult she had never seen anyone intubated and was unsure of what to make of it. Because Bobbie let her know that he could hear her she felt more comfortable talking to him.
As amazing and compassionate that those two things were, it is not the reason why I believe Bobbie is a DAISY Nurse. It's what she did after escorting us to the cath lab waiting room and is something that I will never forget. Bobbie gave me a hug and whispered in my ear the following "Listen here from one sister nurse to another, you do not have to be a nurse right now, be a wife." She will never know how much I needed to hear that. How I needed permission to not be a strong cardiac nurse watching her husband have a STEMI and go into cardiac arrest. It was okay to be a wife, to be scared, to be worried and to depend on the nurses that would now be taking care of him.
Bobbie showed compassion to my family and me by offering the words I didn't know I needed to hear. So many times we forget that the family needs just as much care as the patient does. At that time my husband was in the hands of a great cardiac team and I needed the support which she was able to provide. I know that to some it seems like so little but to me it was everything.