My son was admitted to Pediatrics very early on a Thursday morning for respiratory distress from bronchiolitis; when we arrived on the unit Melanie was already in our room waiting for us. What a relief it was to see a familiar face (from our mutual experiences at Culver-Stockton and Blessing-Rieman)! Melanie had us admitted, oxygen placed and tucked into bed in a very quick 40 minutes, and we were actually able to get some unexpected rest that night. We all expected our stay to be quick and as Melanie didn't work again until Saturday night we told her goodbye as I was sure we'd be discharged by then. Saturday came and my son was still needing oxygen; we were disappointed to still be in the hospital but happy to see Melanie when she came back on shift Saturday night. As usual, she got us whatever we needed and we settled in to rest. As we all fell asleep his monitor started to beep, he was falling deep asleep and his oxygen saturations were falling lower than they should. Melanie was quick to come back to the bedside, and we tried many things that night; position changes would help his numbers come up for a while but they would quickly go back to 89-90%. After Melanie very thoroughly assessed him and double checked his numbers with a different monitor, it was time to intervene. She had to turn his oxygen up; little by little his oxygen needs increased until he was maxed out for the pediatric unit on 3 liters. Throughout this time Melanie was amazing. She never hesitated to call the doctor in those late night hours to get my son what she needed. When she could see my fear starting to take over she spent even more time reassuring me that she had this handled and would get my son what he needed. She used every resource available and pulled in respiratory therapists to increase their aggressiveness with my son's treatments. She handpicked an amazing phlebotomist and his labs were obtained in one stick. She patiently pulled up his x-rays and let me see them for myself. As labs and results started coming in she always kept us updated. In the end, my son was able to be stabilized with a new diagnosis of pneumonia. I truly believe that we were able to prevent him from having to be transferred to a different facility that night because of Melanie's diligence. After she had worked so hard for us all night, she made a pot of coffee and found some of her own good creamer for me, just as the sun was rising on a new day. Melanie was able to come back Monday night and finally get my son to room air and we got to be discharged on Tuesday!
As an RN myself I had a hard time during this hospitalization between playing the Mom role, but, also having those strong nurse/advocate feelings coming to the surface. Melanie gave me back the control over my son and made sure I knew that I was an important part of his care. She listened carefully to every concern I had and she quickly won my trust. I know how difficult it can be as a nurse to take good care of your patient and their physical condition and to also support the emotional needs of them and their family, she did that flawlessly.
Melanie is part of our family's story now and she easily became our hero! We will never forget her and wish her many thanks for truly helping my son 'breathe easy.' Care and compassion are the hallmarks of The DAISY Award, and she truly exemplifies these.