February 2020
Jennifer
Cheadle
,
RN, BSN
5 Lynch
Beebe Healthcare
Lewes
,
DE
United States

 

 

 

My mother was admitted to Beebe for AFIB. We were supposed to be leaving for a trip to Disney World that Saturday and all of a sudden we were thrown into a continuous loop of uncertainty and hardly any information. My family was frustrated, and my poor mother was so scared and had no clue what was happening. That's when we were sent a guardian angel. Jen entered the room with a smile on her face and a mission to help.
We had just seen the cardiologist and we had so many questions about what was going on and where we would go from there. When Jen heard that our questions hadn't been answered and we felt like no one cared, she went above and beyond the call of duty. She answered every single question we had and even showed us visual aids in order to help us understand what was really happening. She made sure my mother was informed of what was going on, what they were doing, what medicine they were giving her, and made sure she had no other questions before she left. I finally felt comfortable leaving the hospital for a few hours knowing that she was in Jen's care. At the end of the first time talking with her she said she would be our nurse on Sunday as well and we all were so glad because she truly was our guardian angel.
On Sunday my family took a slow morning because we did not think the cardiologist would be back that morning as we had a treatment plan in place. The cardiologist came and delivered the news that if the cardioversion was successful she would be in the hospital for Christmas. Jen held my mother as she sobbed receiving this news when we were not there. I cannot thank her enough for being there for my mother. She took the time to find out my mom loved coffee and when her heart rate started to stabilize, she made sure that she had coffee supplies ready to go. Even with her busy schedule of saving lives, she took the time to make my mother her beloved cup of coffee.
I came to the hospital first on the day my mom found out she may not be leaving on Monday. My mom was asleep at the time and Jen knew I was having trouble dealing with all of this (my mom has recently been diagnosed with breast cancer as well). She asked permission from my mom to talk to me and my mother gave it earlier (at this point I did not know this). While my mother was sleeping, Jen pulled me aside to talk to me about everything. She asked how I was doing and gave me a recommendation for therapy (CBT) and how much it helped her. She even gave me a tool from it right there, pulling up visuals and all, to help me from spiraling with all that was going on. She answered all my questions about my mother's treatment and made sure I was okay before she continued with her rounds.
Jen is our guardian angel. When she came in everything started to brighten and we finally got our answers. She is so gifted and I feel so blessed that she was assigned my mother on her shift. She took us seriously. Treated us with compassion. She made sure we were always in the loop. Made sure that my mother felt like she understood up to a point, what was happening. Thank you Jen! I cannot say that enough from the bottom of my heart. You turned one of the worst scenarios into something we could handle.