Meg Wilburn, RN, nurse resident in Children’s Hospital’s PICU, with a message of support for colleagues at Vanderbilt University Adult Hospital’s MICU.
For weeks the community has rallied around health care staff as they mobilize to prepare to care for COVID-19 patients.
While the gratitude for staff has been far reaching, many within the walls of Vanderbilt University Medical Center have reached out to each other to offer positive reinforcement and morale boosting gestures.
“We knew we needed to really love on the MICU, let them know we cared, we have their backs, we are one with them and that we truly appreciate what they are sacrificing to care for their patients.”
Diane Holloway, a 20-year registered nurse in the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU) at Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt is one of those people.
“In all my years as a nurse, I can not think of a time that a crisis depleted me so much,” Holloway said. “I was struggling with everything that was going on.
“I felt moved to do something positive for someone else. And it came to me. I knew those of us in the PICU were having a hard time, but our counterparts on the adult side had it harder. I knew we needed to reach out to them.”
And that is all it took – a mention, and then word spread.
Staff of the PICU wanted to show its support for the its sister unit, the Medical Intensive Care Unit (MICU) in Vanderbilt University Adult Hospital. Within hours Holloway was receiving donations and ideas.
“It came together so easily and quickly,” she said. “It really helped everyone focus on something positive. We were all excited about supporting them, encouraging them and lifting them up.”
Holloway’s efforts resulted in a Keurig coffeemaker along with two full carts and four bins of snacks and goodies for the MICU team.
The donation was delivered on Thursday, April 9 to a very surprised team in MICU.
Devin Bunch, BSN, MMHC, RN, manager of the MICU, said the timing couldn’t have been better.
“As distant as our two units are, this really shows just how connected we really are during times of crisis,” said Bunch. “They knew we needed a little extra thoughtfulness. With all of the stressors that our nurses are experiencing right now, to have our peers providing this level of support is a real comfort. It was an overwhelming amount of support.”
Holloway said intensive care unit staff are accustomed to operating in a fast-paced setting as well as dealing with emergent needs. The wait that has ensued with the COVID-19 pandemic has been painstaking, she said.
“I started seeing the angst at all levels of our team,” she said. “I knew that if our team was feeling this, that the adult side was living it. I also knew that since patients were not able to have a family member or visitor, that staff was needing to fill in those gaps too.
“We knew we needed to really love on the MICU, let them know we cared, we have their backs, we are one with them and that we truly appreciate what they are sacrificing to care for their patients.”
The goodies will be shared among several shifts in units serving intensive care patients.
