May 2020
Payton
Swan
,
BSN, RN, CPN
Cardiac Stepdown
Riley Hospital for Children at Indiana University Health
Indianapolis
,
IN
United States
My son is 7 and has an anxiety disorder as well as a heart condition. He had open-heart surgery that went really well and he was recovering well physically, but his anxiety was at an all-time high. He was struggling with pain from surgery, being away from family, and fear. He refused to get out of bed and cooperate with any of his care. His psychology team was struggling to help through virtual means until we met Payton. She was able to talk him down and convince him to play games with her out in the hallway. She got him excited to get out of bed and walk around the floor and gave him something to look forward to. One of his biggest complaints about the hospital is dressing changes and usually, it takes a team of nurses to hold him and he screams and fights the entire time. Payton got him involved in the process and they were able to remove one bandage he didn't need and change another with no tears. After 2 days with Payton as his nurse, he is thinking he might want to be a nurse when he grows up and he was so sad to say goodbye to her. She made a huge impression on him in a very tough time.