“You know you’re a nurse if… you triage the laundry when at home: This pile needs immediate attention, the pile can wait, this pile, with a little stain stick will be OK until you get back to it.” – Donna Wilk Cardillo… If you’ve ever spent any time at all in a hospital, you know that the quality of the nurses who attend to you can truly a difference in your experience. I mean, doctors are great, but honestly – whether it’s at your doctor’s office for a basic check-up, a hospital emergency room, or an in-patient stay at the hospital – you spend a heck of a lot more time with your nurses than you ever do with your doctor. Which is why I want to give a little shout out to an amazing nurse that made a difference in my life, and give you all a chance to recognize a great nurse who’s made a difference in your life too…
“When you’re a nurse you know that every day you will touch a life or a life will touch yours.” – Author Unknown
I’d originally planned to use this article to finally tell you all the story of Abby’s birth. Until recently, that was THE scariest day I’d ever faced in my entire life. But then last week I endured scariest thing I’ve ever been through, ever – My Toddler Had a Seizure: What I Learned Might Help You Too – And while things have recovered and calmed down amazingly well, the whole situation is still so vivid in my mind. And, it reminded me of what a difference the right set of medical professionals can make, especially nurses… I hate to have to say bad things about anyone, but I would be lying if I said that I felt ok about the way that the Emergency Room staff treated us during our ordeal… Abby had already suffered through two very mini seizures at home before we got to the ER. They were only around 5 seconds each, but they were horrible. So when the full one hit after being in the ER for an hour – I thought we would get some help. I was wrong…
“When you’re a nurse you know that every day you will touch a life or a life will touch yours.” – Author Unknown
Abby’s full seizure hit in the middle of a blood draw, for testing. The Phlebotomist continued taking blood, although we were yelling that Abby was seizing. Mike tried to hold Abby’s arms steady, so she wouldn’t fall off of the big hospital bed – since no one had pulled the safety rails up. I held her feet, then let go to run and open up our curtains, and shout for help. I came back to hold Abby… And looked back to see a whole counter of ER staff looking at us, not taking action. After I screamed for someone to help us – finally, a couple people wandered in, then finally started helping – grabbing an oxygen mask for Abby, hooking her up to monitors, and making sure she was breathing and safe. I understand that in the ER a seizure is probably an everyday type occurance. But for us, this was the scariest thing that had ever happened in either of our lives.
“A nurse will always give us hope, an angel with a stethoscope.” – Terri Guillemets
After getting Abby stabilized, we were moved upstairs, and admitted to Pediatrics for the night. There, we were welcomed into an atmosphere that was a complete 180 from the ER… The nurses were so amazingly compassionate, caring, and involved. When we arrived to our family room there, Abby still didn’t really know who we were. She was hooked up to lots of wires and monitors, very scared, and extremely confused. The nurses who got us settled in asked us if she had any type of favorite “lovey” at home – a doll, blanket, toy, anything – that made her feel secure and calm. Mike told the nurses that we didn’t have anything particular, Abby just loved all of her 27 baby dolls she’d carry around the house…. We were just joking. But within 5 minutes the nurses had returned with a baby doll for Abby to hold and cuddle, as she settled into her strange new surroundings at the hospital. The care and consideration that they showed to us then, and over the course of the next day as we monitored Abby, was more appreciated than I can ever say. We KNEW that those ladies cared for us, and were truly invested in Abby’s recovery. The doctor was amazing too – but since 90% of our day was attended to by the nurses, they were the ones who made the biggest impact on us.
“Nurses – one of the few blessings of being ill.” – Sara Moss-Wolfe
Did you know: the healthcare field is experiencing a severe shortage of nurses; there is currently a nationwide vacancy of over 100,000 positions, and that number is expected to grow to 800,000 by the year 2020? It’s amazing to me that a job that makes such a dramatic impact on the lives of so many people could be going unfulfilled. The positive side to this? The career outlook is excellent for the nursing field. And nursing is a highly regarded profession: a 2011 Gallup Poll announced that the public voted nurses number one for “honesty and ethical standards of various professions” for the eighth consecutive year. Nurses offer patients comfort, care and skill that is desperately needed in patient care. The time is now to encourage and celebrate this important role in our healthcare system. If you know an amazingly wonderful nurse too, then you’ll definitely want to make sure to enter them into the Amazing Nurses Contest, from J&J…
Nominate an Amazing Nurse
If there’s a special nurse that has made a difference in your life that you’d like to honor, visit the Amazing Nurses Contest site before June 29, 2012, to share their story, and give them the chance to be recognized for their amazing compassion and skill. The form is pretty simple to complete – it took me less than 3 minutes to totally fill in the info to nominate the amazing nurse we had during our stay at the hospital with Abby. {By the way, she had totally recovered. They are hoping that what she had was called a Febrile Seizure – meaning it wasn’t too dangerous, but it’s very common in kids under 5, and odds are high it will happen again.} *A few details: The winning Amazing Nurse and his/her guest will attend the 2012 CNN Heroes: An All-Star Tribute show in Los Angeles, courtesy of CNN. He or she will also be honored in a video profile which will be screened before the live audience at the show, and featured on the Nursing Notes by Johnson & Johnson Facebook page. (*Eligible Nominees for the Amazing Nurses contest must be a Registered Nurse (RN), Licensed Practical Nurse (LPN) or Advanced Practice Nurse (APN) who currently administers direct patient care.)*
Share your favorite story of a nurse who’s made a difference in your life – I love reading your comments…
{I wrote this review while participating in a blog tour by Mom Central Consulting on behalf of Johnson & Johnson and received a promotional item to thank me for taking the time to participate.}
What a nice post and I’m glad you found compassionate and caring nurses to take care of your daughter and attend to your families needs. I work as a nurse and have spent the past 6 years caring for the terminally ill and their families. It is a work that constantly pulls on the heartstrings! I’ve been on the receiving end of poor nursing care–and while nurses are human too–it has made me more aware of being empathetic to those I care for and their families. I hope that I have made a difference in the life of someone I’ve crossed paths with as a nurse.
Oh My Goodness! I hope you never have to go through that again!! Not quite sure how I would have handled the ER staff… but thank goodness the pediatric nurses were so much better!!