My nine-month-old son, M., was a patient in Baptist's Pediatric Unit for a week. While he received wonderful care from all of his nurses, Dianne was truly exceptional, making both M. and us (his parents) feel comfortable, safe and reassured while on duty.
M. was admitted to the hospital and after x-rays taken at his doctor's office, who revealed that he had osteomyelitis in his right hip. The Dr. scheduled him for emergency surgery the next day and enlisted another Dr. to consult on his infectious disease care. Within hours of visiting, I realized M. was going to be hospital bound for at least a week and require IV antibiotics through a PICC line for another four to six weeks. Needless to say, what started as a simple appointment with a Dr. on Wednesday morning to check for a small hip injury ended up being a most unwelcome surprise!
Dianne was assigned to M. upon his admission to the Pediatric Unit. She took charge at once and did her absolute best to make both M. and us feel comfortable in our new temporary home. The fact that she advocated on our behalf, not only with the other staff but also with the surgery center and our doctors was incredibly reassuring to us.
She immediately started looking for a rocking chair for us, knowing that it would assist me in putting M. to sleep.
Knowing that M. was NPO at midnight the night before his surgery, she continually called the surgery center the next morning, pushing to get him taken to surgery as soon as possible so he would not have to suffer too long without food.
After surgery, when M.'s vitals needed to be taken every 15 minutes, the nurse's aide tried to leave the blood pressure cuff and pulse ox meter on M. at all times so she did not have to continually take them on and off. Unfortunately, this meant that every time he moved, the machine would beep because it could not get an adequate reading. Upon seeing this, Dianne immediately told the aide to remove the instruments each time so they would not beep and wake him up.
She made sure that M. had all the supplies he could need, but also made sure that I got enough food and drink to last me through each day and keep my energy up.
Even after she was assigned to a different wing of the Pediatric Unit, she continued to stop by to visit M. and see if there was anything we might need.
She demonstrated the utmost competence. I never once questioned her professional capabilities to care for my son. Had he been an older child (and once I felt comfortable leaving him alone for a few hours), I would have had no problem leaving him in Dianne's care.
As you can imagine, having your baby admitted to the hospital and scheduled for two surgical procedures in a matter of days is a scary thing. Dianne went out of her way to make us feel comfortable and reassured that he was in the best possible hands. We had a very positive experience overall at Baptist, but looking back over the course of our week-long stay, the memories that stay with me the most are the care given to us by Dianne. She is a wonderful asset to your Pediatric Unit and we are so happy to have met her.