We first met Emily the night of my daughter's bone marrow transplant. After a short while into transplant, my daughter began to run a fever so that required them to pause the transfusion just for a brief period. That is when the transfusion line stopped flowing, the cells had clotted in the line and would no longer flow by gravity. Emily stayed in our room majority of her shift that night, slowly pushing in every single last cell. She remained calm the entire time. That night, followed by many others, she continued to prove her excellence as a nurse. My husband and I are both nurses, and that night Emily reminded us of the very reason why we went to nursing school. The passion and charisma she has for her job are radiant. We have been here at CCH for almost 80 days total, and I haven't once felt like I was in a hospital. Every single person we have met has made us feel an unexplainable comfort, and put our minds at ease that our daughters best interest was theirs. Emily stands out above all.
During my daughter's hospitalization here at CCH, my husband has remained with his own health ailments, which it has left me to be the main caregiver. Night time has been hard for me mentally/ physically coping with our family's current situation. Emily always comes in with a smile and makes every effort to not only care for my daughter but I can tell she is caring for me as well. Even on the nights when she isn't our nurse she pops in to say hello, and to check on us. She writes sweet notes of encouragement on our board in our room. Some days that was just enough to keep me going and not get discouraged.
Before transplant she did a wonderful job of explaining the process to us, and what to expect during transplant. One night while Emily was our nurse, my daughter started showing some signs of distress, in which a chest X-ray was ordered. It showed a pericardial effusion. We were told she would have to have a drain placed and be transferred to the PICU. Everything happened so fast, but Emily tried to comfort us and explain to us what we may expect.
Emily immediately bonded with our daughter and made her at ease through every stressful procedure or medication administered. My daughter loves playing with her through her assessments. I know that I can go to sleep without worry through the night. Emily clusters her care in a way that allows us to better sleep through the night.
I never have to worry about procedures, or what to expect the night to look like, Emily does a wonderful job of keeping us informed. During the difficult nights, she had a calming way of explaining to us the needed course of action. She also listened to our concerns and was our advocate to bring those concerns to the team. That's what being a nurse is all about, having a voice for your patient, being an advocate for their better health.