August 2018
Tricia
Dolph
,
RN, BSN
ICU
Franciscan Health Michigan City
Michigan City
,
IN
United States
We recently received an order for a 4-year-old to receive rabies vaccines as an outpatient. Typically, when the Infusion Center receives orders for a pediatric patient that patient is given their treatment on the peds unit. Since the hospital has been full it was not possible to send her to Peds. The day of her scheduled treatment the pediatric nurse called off so it was decided that Tricia, who was working as a special response nurse that day, would be the one to give this 4-year-old her vaccination. Tricia has never been a pediatric nurse but she was wonderful at putting this little girl and her father at ease. She gave the injection then played hospital glove volleyball with an inflated glove while the patient sat for her observation period. We heard no cries of pain from this little girl but lots of giggles and laughs as they played. Injections are painful but I know without a doubt that this little girl will not remember the sting of a needle, only the amazing nurse who took care of her. Tricia is an awesome ICU nurse but was asked to step out of her comfort zone to help this child and she did it graciously and confidently. We truly appreciated her willingness to adapt to the situation. She is an asset not only to Franciscan but to the nursing profession as a whole. She truly embodies what I believe all nurses should strive to be.