My sister, her husband, and three children were involved in a horrific car accident. They were brought to UMC where we learned that my sister's condition was not good. She was not expected to make it through the night. Somehow, she made it, but we knew that any recovery for her would be a long and difficult road. We were fortunate enough to meet an amazing nurse named Callan in TICU. This nurse was the best person to have been placed in the path of caring for my sister.
Callan didn't treat my sister like she was just "any patient," she treated my sister like she knew her. She was the same way with us. If she saw us in the hall she would say, "Hey, Friend. How are you?" and she would check in on us just to see how we were doing and if she could do something to help us. She was also really nice to my mom, making sure that she was taking care of herself while caring for my sister.
My sister was fortunate enough to have Callan for numerous nights in a row. My mom called her "her favorite nurse." Unfortunately, while waiting for my sister to get out of one of her numerous surgeries, my mother had a stroke in the waiting room. My mom was adamant about checking herself out of the ER so that she could return to my sister's room to care for her. I'm not even sure how Callan found out about my mom being in the ER, but she took the time to go down to the ER and convince my mom to stay for treatment. She went out of her way to help without ever being asked. She promised my mom that if anything happened while in the ER that she would personally go and tell her. If it wasn't for Callan, I'm sure my mom would have checked herself out of the hospital and made her condition worse.
The actions of this wonderful nurse helped us in more ways than I can even begin to explain. We (my mom, sister, and myself) were pretty sad when we found out that Callan was not her nurse again the following night. She really had that much of an impact on us. As sad as our time spent here has been, she helps to raise our spirits. In fact, I am currently sitting by my sister's bedside writing this and I just heard a familiar voice. Guess who it is - Callan! No, she is not my sister's night nurse tonight. She's not even working in this hall. But once again she has come in to give a friendly hello and check on me to see if there is anything she can do. She also asked about my mom and her condition and treatment. She really goes above and beyond.
I have spent a lot of time in numerous hospitals for my daughter's care and there is not a nurse that I have ever had contact with that is as outstanding as Callan. Well, there is another exceptional nurse that I get told many amazing stories about...my sister was that kind of nurse. Maybe that is why we love Callan so much. She reminds us of my sister. Although my sister's recovery looks very grim and our hearts are broken, I can look back on this time and know that we were fortunate to have met Callan. She was/is exactly who we needed to meet. We are forever grateful to her.