Tammi Staum
March 2014
Tammi
Staum
,
RN
Child Life Services Pediatrics
St. Mary's Medical Center
Evansville
,
IN
United States
I can count a handful of times that I have found myself on the other side of my profession (I am proud to say that I am a Nurse). My daughter had to get tubes placed in her ears at the age of 15 months. Of course this meant that she would have to have anesthesia. I, being a nurse and knowing "too much", was a NERVOUS wreck.
We arrived the morning of surgery with a sleepy, hungry, 15 month old at Same Day Surgery. We walked into a room that had a stuffed animal and a book on the bed, a pillow case that displayed the alphabet and a sign that said "Welcome to St. Mary's" personalized with my daughter's name. Immediately, the mood was lifted a little. Tammi Staum came to our room shortly after and brought with her a wagon, bubbles, toys, and an iPad. Suddenly, the two hours that we had to wait before surgery with a 15 month old didn't seem so long. Tammi kept checking on us and bringing new toys to our room to keep my daughter entertained and before we knew it we were ten minutes from surgery.
A week prior to surgery I kept having this recurring moment in my head where they came to take my little one for surgery and she was clinging to me scared and I was clinging to her crying and the staff had to rip us apart. I will tell you how it actually went. Tammi came with the wagon and put the "alphabet" pillow in it as well as my daughter. She turned on Minnie Mouse on the iPad and handed it to my daughter (who thought it was Christmas) and then Tammi started blowing bubbles as they wheeled to the OR (after daddy and mommy were able to steal a quick kiss of course).
Emotions started to hit me as I immediately started thinking about my baby laying on the OR table and receiving anesthesia. Two minutes later, here comes Tammi. She said I just wanted to say your daughter is now asleep and she got to keep her "paci" in. She said we played peek-a-boo with my mask until she fell asleep.
A whole 15 minutes later (shortest surgery ever) we were reunited with our daughter. As I reflect on the exceptional experience we had at St. Mary's one person stands out in my mind, Tammi. I quickly realized that even though her job was to focus on my daughter, she indirectly was caring for me as well. She will never know (because there are no words to express) what it meant to a terrified mom to be updated that my daughter was asleep and ok (I am sure that is not part of her job description). I was smiling as she was talking because I could see, in my mind, my daughter laying there, peacefully sleeping, with her favorite object (her "paci") in her mouth.
I am nominating Tammi for the DAISY Award because she exemplified first-hand the extraordinary skill set that it takes to be a nurse. I know there were several procedures going on that day but Tammi made us feel like we were the only ones there. She made what was initially thought to be negative experience an experience that I look back on and smile about. Thank you is not enough.
We arrived the morning of surgery with a sleepy, hungry, 15 month old at Same Day Surgery. We walked into a room that had a stuffed animal and a book on the bed, a pillow case that displayed the alphabet and a sign that said "Welcome to St. Mary's" personalized with my daughter's name. Immediately, the mood was lifted a little. Tammi Staum came to our room shortly after and brought with her a wagon, bubbles, toys, and an iPad. Suddenly, the two hours that we had to wait before surgery with a 15 month old didn't seem so long. Tammi kept checking on us and bringing new toys to our room to keep my daughter entertained and before we knew it we were ten minutes from surgery.
A week prior to surgery I kept having this recurring moment in my head where they came to take my little one for surgery and she was clinging to me scared and I was clinging to her crying and the staff had to rip us apart. I will tell you how it actually went. Tammi came with the wagon and put the "alphabet" pillow in it as well as my daughter. She turned on Minnie Mouse on the iPad and handed it to my daughter (who thought it was Christmas) and then Tammi started blowing bubbles as they wheeled to the OR (after daddy and mommy were able to steal a quick kiss of course).
Emotions started to hit me as I immediately started thinking about my baby laying on the OR table and receiving anesthesia. Two minutes later, here comes Tammi. She said I just wanted to say your daughter is now asleep and she got to keep her "paci" in. She said we played peek-a-boo with my mask until she fell asleep.
A whole 15 minutes later (shortest surgery ever) we were reunited with our daughter. As I reflect on the exceptional experience we had at St. Mary's one person stands out in my mind, Tammi. I quickly realized that even though her job was to focus on my daughter, she indirectly was caring for me as well. She will never know (because there are no words to express) what it meant to a terrified mom to be updated that my daughter was asleep and ok (I am sure that is not part of her job description). I was smiling as she was talking because I could see, in my mind, my daughter laying there, peacefully sleeping, with her favorite object (her "paci") in her mouth.
I am nominating Tammi for the DAISY Award because she exemplified first-hand the extraordinary skill set that it takes to be a nurse. I know there were several procedures going on that day but Tammi made us feel like we were the only ones there. She made what was initially thought to be negative experience an experience that I look back on and smile about. Thank you is not enough.