I was recently the recipient of care in the Pediatric Cardiac Intensive Care Unit (PCICU). I am a 48-year-old pediatric patient, so I was the eldest patient in the unit and required some different care than some of my younger neighbors.
What a great team you have in the PCICU! I spent six days with the team, and I was able to see the awesome work that they do. Everyone from the doctors to the environmental services team was top-notch professionals who worked together as a seamless group thoroughly enhanced my quality of care.
Prior to my procedure, I was able to tour the facility and meet some of the team members in order to see what my expected care would be, and I was definitely not disappointed in the care that I received. In fact, I was overly impressed by the compassion, exemplary service, and synergy that the team had throughout my stay with them.
I have a prior background in hospital facilities management, and I have had the pleasure to do executive rounding on patients in the past, so I tend to be a tad critical with not only the condition of the facilities but also with the quality of staff members as well.
In the six days that I spent in the PCICU, there was no time that I felt any lack of care or drop-off in care, and there were times that my care went well above and beyond my expectations. There is definitely autonomy in care when you experience care paired with a great attitude, personality, and a healer's touch.
One of the nurses who definitely has a healer's touch is Cassie. She not only gave me the care that was expected but also went out of her way to be sure that I enjoyed some distraction from my pain and rehab. Cassie not only made sure that the visiting characters from Scooby Doo came to my room to see me, but she also escorted me downstairs to have fun with animals that were brought in from Disney and to meet Minnie Mouse. It was great to be together with some of the patients from other areas of the hospital and for me to help let the younger patients know that APMC also supports continued care of pediatric patients as they age, like myself.
Cassie also displayed her commitment to quality outcome when she stayed late after her shift ended one day to be sure that I received some ice cream that had been inadvertently left off of my dinner tray. She was not going to leave until I received my ice cream, and she made sure that I was comfortably eating my ice cream before she left the unit.
I could not be happier about the overall care that I received, and I am truly thankful for the Pediatric Cardiac Surgical Team and the Pediatric Cardiac Intensive Care Unit.