I would like to thank Elizabeth Borchardt who took care of my dad recently. I've personally worked in healthcare for almost 10 years and have not met anyone like Elizabeth. My dad had a triple bypass and was on the ventilator for quite a few days after his surgery. My family and I never really experienced anything like this before, as usually, they are awake breathing on their own, talking, sitting up right after anyone's previous procedures. Watching a machine breathe for my dad and seeing him just lying there for days was very hard on all of us. From the first time we met with Elizabeth, as she was monitoring countless medications, vitals, etc., I knew my dad was going to be taken care of in every aspect respectfully.
From my experience, I know when you are taking care of patients there is a lot that is going on behind the scenes that people don't always realize. At first, I didn't ask too many questions as I wanted to allow her to have full focus on my dad, but very shortly afterward she encouraged us to ask questions even though she was doing so many other things at the same time, and she did it with ease not skipping a single beat. Elizabeth not only answered our questions but also explained every single thing that she was doing and why she was doing it. That was amazing. If she left the room, she would inform us when she would be back, what would happen next, what other departments would stop by, if any, and reassure us that she would be close by if anything came up.
Unfortunately, my mom is usually the one that is ill, so now the tables are turned, and it is very stressful and hard for her to see him go through this. Every time he coughed, moved, opened his eyes, anything- Elizabeth was right there reassuring my mom, brother and I that everything was not only okay but that coughing or moving all four extremities was a good thing, etc. My family and I live about 45 minutes from the hospital and my parents own a business here as well, so we were unable to be there every second, but it was okay because we knew Elizabeth was there to help him if he needed it and that she would be in his room in a timely manner if his alarms would start to sound, etc.
Not only was Elizabeth attentive to my dad, but she was also there for my whole family. Before leaving the room, she would always ask if we had any questions or needed anything, not because she was supposed to, she asked it because she genuinely cared. To ease my mom's mind, she would call Elizabeth for an update and she would reassure my mom that my dad was making progress and that we were moving in the right direction. By taking the time to somewhat get to know us, I feel as though she picked up on our family's quirks and what truly matters to us and by doing so, I feel like that created a stronger bond when taking care of my dad. Although my dad was sedated and unable to communicate, I feel as though Elizabeth got to know him through us and no matter what she did with Dad, she always told him too.
I appreciate everyone from every department and all the volunteers at St. Clare's and could never say thank you enough. Elizabeth stuck out to us and went above and beyond, making this unfortunate event a whole lot easier to handle. She is truly an Extraordinary Nurse and an extraordinary person in general.