March 2017
Andrea
Bennett
,
RN
Nuero ICU
Mercy Health - St. Vincent Medical Center
Toledo
,
OH
United States

 

 

 

My mother, 89 years young has had the unfortunate diagnosis of Guillain-barre' syndrome for the 2nd time in 2 1/2 years. Andrea has touched our hearts to the core. She was my mother's nurse for the 1st 2 days after being moved from the ICU. If I could sum up Andrea in one word it would be Genuine. One morning a Dr. we hadn't seen before came to talk to our mother and us about the upcoming need to remove her NG tube and about her failure to pass the swallow test. It was presented that in order to stay alive she would have to have a feeding tube. If she didn't want a feeding tube they could just keep her comfortable. Mom stated she would like to think about it and we were told to respect her wishes. We were shaken and confused about how our mother's progress had gone from positive and recovering by all of her doctors, to having to make a life/end life decision. Andrea saw our distress and offered to have a doctor come to us and talk to us about the feeding tube process and all that it would entail. That consult was so helpful and so appreciated. It gave us the detailed information my mother and we needed to make a very difficult decision. We will hopefully put a lot of this battle she is fighting behind us, but I can say without reservation we will never forget nurse Andrea.