Julia Lyons
June 2018
Julia
Lyons
,
RN
Intermediate Care Unit
CHI Memorial Hospital
Chattanooga
,
TN
United States

 

 

 

First let me tell you about our son whom Julia took excellent care of. He was in an accident when he was 11 years old that left him a quadriplegic. He is now 40 and has been in and out of countless hospitals his entire life and has required round the clock care from doctors and nurses and many other professionals. Also, he had sustained a brain stem injury but suffered no cognitive damage. In other words, he is paralyzed from the neck down but is fine from the neck up.
Now, this is what's so special about Julia and her care of him. He is in a wheelchair, has a trach, and is blind in one eye. And though he is an invalid a lot of people only see him as damaged goods and treat him with little if any respect. Instead of taking the extra effort to communicate with him directly (he has a speaking valve on his trach) they address pretty much anyone else who is in the room.
In comes Julia. To say this nurse is very knowledgeable, efficient, and professional goes without saying. But the strength we see and appreciate the most is the ability to communicate with our son one on one. And it's all about their attitude. She treats our son just like he's anybody else, like a normal human being. She does it with grace, respect, affection, and joy. This is a huge blessing for our son directly (you can see his reaction on his face and in his tone of voice) and indirectly to us.
We hope you recognize what an asset you have in Julia because we certainly have.