Tell us why this nurse is excellent: Julie takes pride in saying she is a nurse in the Cardiac Intensive Care Unit. She is approachable, soft hearted, and strives for perfection. She likes her patients and the space around them to be perfect. She treats everyone with respect, and takes every opportunity to educate those around her. We love having Julie on our unit. Whether Julie is working as a bedside nurse or a charge nurse, her peers take comfort in the fact that she is on the unit. She is a respectable charge/bedside nurse, always helping others before she is asked. I hope Julie knows how much we appreciate her and all she does for us.

How does this nurse make a special connection with your family and child?: Julie is an excellent and devoted patient advocate. She ensures her families are up to date on the plan for the day. She makes sure to get the physicians attention when she suspects her families have concerns, always being proactive in forming/maintaining that nurse/physician/patient relationship.

Share examples of how the nurse educates your family and child: Julie is a spectacular resource for families, and other nurses, when it comes to defects related to cleft lip or palate. Julie has had first hand experience in this area while diligently raising her own children. Julie is a wealth of knowledge, no matter what the topic and I am proud to say she works here with me in the Cardiac Intensive Care Unit.

Describe a situation during which this nurse made your family and child feel comfortable: Julie's warm, inviting, and mother like demeanor make all of her families feel comfortable. She followed me in caring for a 4 year old patient who had recently been to the O.R for surgery, Cath Lab, and since coded. This patients parents, especially the patients mother, was very nervous about the situation in general. She needed to get some sleep and do some self care type of things, but was talking about how nervous she was and would be unable to leave her baby for the whole night, or even part of it. Julie, without hesitation, went on to address these concerns by saying all the things we want to hear, for example: Your baby will be safe here while you are gone. I will be caring for her all night the best way I know how. I will call you if I even suspect there might be trouble and promise to tell you if you should come over here now or if you can return to sleep. We want you to be comfortable and be able to care for yourself and your baby, so it is important for you to get the rest you need. Feel free to call us anytime, do you have our number? Later that evening this family felt comfortable enough to go across the street to RMH to get some rest, and slept all night.