I just wanted to give a shout-out to Michelle for helping me yesterday afternoon with holding a nonverbal autistic child for a facial laceration. The child's mother told us that last time it took 4 nurses to hold him down for a procedure ... I told my charge nurse I might need a few people to help me out, however, Michelle said she'd be OK doing it on her own. I had just come out of the room and watched the kid crying and running around like a bandit and was pretty doubtful we would be able to get him under control, but Michelle is a child whisperer and was able to keep his head still while singing Mickey Mouse songs as I sutured. I even had difficulty with a smaller size suture thread not holding and had to replace multiple sutures with a larger size thread (not ideal when working on a kid!) and yet she kept him quiet and under control throughout, even blowing bubbles for him afterward when he refused to take a popsicle. I am so grateful that I basically have a child life specialist in the department when she is working, and she makes experiences like this much less anxiety-provoking for all parties involved.
Note: This is Michelle's 2nd DAISY Award!