January 2016
Colleen
Long
,
RN, BSN
ED
Children's Hospitals and Clinics of Minnesota
Minneapolis
,
MN
United States

 

 

 

Our son was admitted to Children's. After a rough night, our son was very uncomfortable, and as parents, we were at our wit's end. Having your child be so upset and not being able to comfort him is a parent's nightmare. Colleen, who usually works in the ER, but picks up shifts in the 4100 block, was our nurse the following morning. She walked into our room to see me, in tears, holding my screaming baby. She whipped out her bubbles from her pocket (who knew bubbles were the distraction we needed?) and began talking with me about a plan for pain management. She took action and quickly communicated with the nurse practitioner so our son's pain was managed. Her actions really changed how we all felt. That pain management and communicating with the doctors is a nurse's job, but Colleen went beyond to be child-centered. She spent quite a lot of time just playing with our little boy and developed a relationship with him. She rubbed his head just like a mother would to her child. Our son was her priority, and that made all the difference. Our little boy always perked up when she came in, often waving his little hand at her to say hi. Colleen made us feel more comfortable and cared for in what was a very stressful situation. For that, we are so very thankful. She most certainly deserves the DAISY Award.