To the exceptional nurse looking after my daughter,
Thank you.
Really words can’t describe what I think of you. In a good way. I realise you do this job because you love it. And you know what. I can tell and so can Chloe.
The first thing you care about when you turn up in the morning for your twelve hour shift is connecting with her. You’ve put aside your tasks like checking blood pressure, checking temps or sats or even weight and administering meds. You’ve noticed one thing only.
Chloe is young. She’s not a baby. She’s not yet a young person and she’s not really a toddler anymore. There’s an unspoken silence where you’ve noticed she is wary and untrusting. You’ve noticed she doesn’t like being touched unless she controls it. And you’ve noticed she doesn’t readily welcome you into her bubble.
You realise you need to earn her trust and so you address her first without expectation. This is huge. You expect nothing from her and know you can easily fill the silence while she sizes you up. You realise her first love is horses and immediately try to connect with her by playing horses.
You have worked this out in just a few minutes. And when you pick up that first horse, or play horse riding or even wear a ‘nappy hat’ to make her laugh she lets you into her world.
You are now special and she will let you do all those nursey jobs you need to do to make sure she is okay and she is healing.
The time this took was only a few minutes yet you realise how it important it was to her and so you put your heart into it.
And then you talk to me. You smile and you readily read the bags under my eyes and the stress that lurks beneath the surface. You know I’ve been by her bedside for many weeks and that not only are you here to nurse my daughter but you understand that I’m just as important. If I’m not well. She’s not well.
‘You need a break, when I’m done checking on my patients I’ll be back in here and you need to eat.’
You tell me to take my time. And I know that because you care not only about the physical well being of my girl you also care about her mental health. You realise this is just as important no matter how young. So you play silly games with nappies on horses. And you dress them in barbie clothes and spend an hour making horse noises.
And I trust you. I trust you’ll be by her side while I regroup and can return to take your place. I know when I open the door to the ward I’ll hear her giggles and your ‘neighing’ and I’ll know you’ve gone the extra mile not just to give medications but also to give her some giggles.
This is not unnoticed. I’ve told the hospital and the unit manager how awesome you are. I know you work long hours away from your family to give back to mine. Your name is burnt into my mind and won’t be forgotten. Because you made a huge difference to our days in hospital. Chloe holds your hand. Sits in your lap. She has sized you up and knows you genuinely care.
You are an extraordinary nurse and I thank you for caring about my child like she was yours in those hours you spent working. I know it’s not always easy. And you don’t like making her cry. And that working with children can be difficult. But I appreciate the extra miles you’ve walked to make our day a little bit better.
From Chloe’s mum.
Chloe's story 