Our daughter was admitted to the PICU in December after emergency brain surgery. On our first morning in PICU, Alyssa was the charge nurse. We had a major scare with her health that morning. Alyssa recognized how this impacted us, came in to talk to us, and arranged for us to be on the waitlist for a room at the Ronald McDonald House.

Fortunately, we were able to get a room the following day. Alyssa was then our daughters designated day nurse for the next two days. Alyssa went above and beyond to ensure the health and wellbeing of not only our daughter but also our family. We appreciated that Alyssa started each morning by telling our daughter the day and date. Anytime she had to check her, Alyssa was thoughtful about explaining what she was doing.

Alyssa would proactively provide updates to us, and we felt comfortable leaving our daughter in her care whenever we needed to leave the room for breakfast or lunch. Not only has Alyssa shown compassion for our daughter, but she’s also shown compassion towards our other daughter, who has been visiting daily. Alyssa always addressed her by her name and helped her feel more comfortable, even offering suggestions for how the child life specialists can support her.

Also, on one of the mornings when the coffee was not yet ready, Alyssa ordered coffee for my husband at Panera so that all we had to do was pick it up. It seems like such a small gesture, but it meant a lot to us during this stressful time. While we’ve had a lot of great nurses caring for us, we feel that Alyssa has brought another level of care, compassion, and empathy for our daughter and our family, and we are so appreciative of it.