Kathleen is a wonderful example of a nurse who gives extraordinary, compassionate, and skillful care to patients and their families.
Our 14-year-old daughter was diagnosed with anorexia this summer. Despite our best efforts with behavioral and nutritional therapy, her condition continued to worsen. She was admitted to the hospital in a severely malnourished state. She would not eat and was incredibly withdrawn from members of her care team. And while everyone did their best to connect with our daughter, this is where Kathleen made all the difference during our time at ETCH.
Somehow, through a combination of friendliness, incredible insight, and determination, Kathleen was able to connect with our child during mealtimes in a way that others, and at times, even ourselves, couldn't. She gained her trust and I watched in amazement how Kathleen encouraged her to eat and drink (keep in mind that this is a child who would go three to four days at a time without eating prior to hospitalization). During the four of our nine nights at the hospital that Kathleen was with us, I saw progressive improvement with our daughter's intake. Watching her eat food or drink juice that she had completely restricted before gave us hope that with intense counseling, she would get better. It may sound like a little thing, but watching your anorexic daughter drink three ounces of apple juice represents an incredible victory. And, Kathleen always made our daughter smile - especially when she called her "sister friend."
Our daughter is getting professional help at a facility specializing in eating disorders and she is making incredible progress. But, we will always remember Kathleen and how she helped our daughter (and us) through some very stressful, uncertain days.