Being the Family Member - A Short Story of My Experience with Pediatric ICU
The first time one of my children was admitted to an acute care hospital changed my perspective as a nurse, in a way that I never imagined it could change. When my third child was six months old he had a respiratory virus. We thought we were over-reacting by taking him to the hospital, but, both my partner and I are RNs and we knew, better safe than sorry because children, especially babies can decline fast. When he was first admitted to the hospital in 2014, it was to a pediatric unit in a general hospital. Clinical staff would come in to assess him, not always introducing themselves. My partner and I were often left looking at each other and wondering, was that an RN or an LPN, and what kind of assessment were they doing? A Surreal Code Blue As my son's condition worsened we often found ourselves sitting in the hospital room wondering, where was the nurse? As he became more lethargic and his work of breathing increased my partner (who is also an RN) replaced the oxygen saturati