Erica Fox is a nurse in the SICU with a heart of gold and skills to match. She has been a critical member of the SICU team for coming up on 7 years now. It would be impossible to find a nurse who is more devoted to her team and her patients. She takes it upon herself to ensure that no SICU nurse goes uncelebrated on their birthdays and goes out of her way to make sure that we all feel remembered. She has accepted a blossoming role in leadership with open arms and sets an excellent example for all of us. To say that I was surprised when I learned about the reason for this nomination would not be true as this is just an outward expression of who she is but to say that I am proud of her would be the understatement of the year.
We recently received a level 1 Trauma. A husband and wife were driving together and were struck by another driver. The husband passed away on the scene and we received the wife who was injured pretty badly. At this time she still does not know the tragedy that has befallen her as she isn't well enough to receive that information. The patient's husband was in the military so to say that our hearts were broken by the show of solidarity that his fellow soldiers showed for their fallen comrade would be an understatement. They took shifts and stood vigil until the 22-year-old girl's mother and father could arrive from California. Every nurse in the SICU, including, Erica, has bent over backward to pour out their hearts to this family who has endured already this terrible tragedy of which their daughter is not even aware.
Erica spent a lot of time connecting with this family and felt moved to do something more. She knew that the family was staying at the Best Western and so while they were out of the hotel waiting to hear any news about their daughter, Erica went to the Best Western and put some money that she had put aside for Christmas for her family on their hotel bill. After that, she came up to the SICU on her day off and visited with the family before the surgery that was scheduled to remove their daughter's leg to offer them some comfort during this terrible time. Most inspiring part, she told them nothing. They have no idea who paid for the room. They will have no idea where this money came from, just that God put an angel in their path that saw them in their time of need and was good enough to take action. Giving is an amazing thing but giving like this is so much more. The bible teaches us to give freely and to not let one hand know what the other is doing. Erica didn't do this for the recognition. In fact, the only reason that I know it happened is because she asked me if it would be ok. She didn't want to do anything that she was not allowed to do.
I could not be prouder to work with nurses who give of themselves freely and expect nothing in return. What Erica did is truly heartwarming and though I am certain that she would not want this recognition, if even one person is inspired to be as giving as she was, it will have been worth it. So very proud of this young nurse. My cup runneth over.