Suellen Bruguera
January 2018
Suellen
Bruguera
,
RN, BSN
Progressive Care Unit
CHI Health St. Francis
Grand Island
,
NE
United States
My husband was diagnosed with stage 4 colon cancer. He has had many surgeries over the years. Every year the cancer has returned, and he has had complications with the chemo treatments.
We have had a lot of hospital visits and a bonus of getting to know many great nurses at the hospital and the cancer center here in town. The last 2 years, we have been in several times for breathing issues and complications.
Recently, he was hospitalized for 5 days. Shortly after the ambulance took him to the ER his breathing was minimal. Praise to God, again, he was in ICU and then on the 4th floor.
That weekend is when we had Suellen for his RN. We have 2 teenage girls, the younger of which is autistic. Over the weekend, Suellen not only cared for the needs of my husband but also asked questions about autism and showed attention to and compassion for our girls. On Sunday noon time as we were 5-10 minutes from signing discharge papers, he couldn't breathe, I put my oximeter on him as Suellen and respiratory came in. Suellen was staying on top of the situation. At that second Suellen said, "He's turning blue". Suellen took control of the situation quickly and calmly. My older child said to my autistic daughter, "come on let's go to the waiting room". Suellen calmly said, "You need to go with your sister. We will take care of your daddy". And they left. Now let me stop for a minute and tell you that my daughter doesn't respond in a crisis situation, she goes into a panic and loud crying. But because Suellen took a few seconds here and there through the last few days, she felt trust and care from her.
After the EKG and such they were getting him ready to go down to ICU, I asked, "can I please stay with him for he has a fear of passing away without me by his side, then I can come back up for the girls". Suellen told me to stay by his side and she will have the PCA bring the bags of items from the room and the girls down. Both of these things she did gave me peace and calmness to talk with him and reaffirm to him it's okay, stay calm, they have this, God is in control.
Every once in a while, God places an angel in our life who is dressed as a nurse. As it was this time with Suellen. We didn't just have an RN to care for my husband and ask if we needed anything else, but we were given her to go the extra mile to see us as a family and get to know us just a little bit. That made a bond which carried all of us through a crisis in an amazingly calm way. Thank you, God, for Suellen.
We have had a lot of hospital visits and a bonus of getting to know many great nurses at the hospital and the cancer center here in town. The last 2 years, we have been in several times for breathing issues and complications.
Recently, he was hospitalized for 5 days. Shortly after the ambulance took him to the ER his breathing was minimal. Praise to God, again, he was in ICU and then on the 4th floor.
That weekend is when we had Suellen for his RN. We have 2 teenage girls, the younger of which is autistic. Over the weekend, Suellen not only cared for the needs of my husband but also asked questions about autism and showed attention to and compassion for our girls. On Sunday noon time as we were 5-10 minutes from signing discharge papers, he couldn't breathe, I put my oximeter on him as Suellen and respiratory came in. Suellen was staying on top of the situation. At that second Suellen said, "He's turning blue". Suellen took control of the situation quickly and calmly. My older child said to my autistic daughter, "come on let's go to the waiting room". Suellen calmly said, "You need to go with your sister. We will take care of your daddy". And they left. Now let me stop for a minute and tell you that my daughter doesn't respond in a crisis situation, she goes into a panic and loud crying. But because Suellen took a few seconds here and there through the last few days, she felt trust and care from her.
After the EKG and such they were getting him ready to go down to ICU, I asked, "can I please stay with him for he has a fear of passing away without me by his side, then I can come back up for the girls". Suellen told me to stay by his side and she will have the PCA bring the bags of items from the room and the girls down. Both of these things she did gave me peace and calmness to talk with him and reaffirm to him it's okay, stay calm, they have this, God is in control.
Every once in a while, God places an angel in our life who is dressed as a nurse. As it was this time with Suellen. We didn't just have an RN to care for my husband and ask if we needed anything else, but we were given her to go the extra mile to see us as a family and get to know us just a little bit. That made a bond which carried all of us through a crisis in an amazingly calm way. Thank you, God, for Suellen.