Our son was in PICU for over a month. He had hydrocephalus and bacterial meningitis. He is only 3 years old. To say that the hospital stay and diagnosis were difficult would be an understatement. He had so many ups and downs that staying positive was often impossible.
During our hospital stay, all of the PICU nurses were amazing, but one, in particular, stood out as spectacular. Tanya may be part-time, but she made a huge impact on our lives. She treated our son like one of our own kids and treated us like family. When we had questions/concerns (which was often) she acted as a go-between us and the doctors. She would take extra time to explain procedures or our options.
Most importantly, Tanya is an incredible patient advocate. With her, it truly felt like his care and comfort were her biggest priority. There were times that he was in horrible pain and she refused to hear that someone on-call "would get back to us in a minute". She took charge, assessed the situation, and had his pain under control quickly.
As if her superb nursing skills weren't enough, she has an amazing personality. Her bedside manner is unparalleled. She has obvious love for each patient.
I could go on and on with examples of how she improved our stay, but the point is that Tanya is an exceptional nurse and human being. I am not sure how we would have made it through this painful time without her.
Note: This is Tanya's 2nd DAISY Award!