“I followed my gut. I knew something was not right, and I was not going to stop until my baby was seen.”
By Maureen Gilmer, Riley Children’s Health senior writer, mgilmer1@iuhealth.org
Dystany Bradford had never been so scared in her life. Her baby boy needed lifesaving surgery, and she and her husband were absolutely wrecked.
So to have a nurse break through the fog of pain and fear and let them know she was there for them and for their baby was a gift.
That nurse was Angie Parsley on 9 East, and she was just recognized with a DAISY award stemming from that patient/family experience.
And that baby, 3-month-old Matthew James Doyle – better known as MJ – is doing great today, his mom said, two months after his parents rushed him to Riley Hospital for Children from Columbus on the advice of doctors there.
“This was traumatizing and scary, and Riley definitely took good care of us, that’s for sure,” Bradford said from her Brownstown, Indiana, home.
She and her husband, Jared Doyle, had tried to get their son in to see a doctor at a hospital closer to home when MJ, then just 1 month old, was crying nonstop and appeared to be in pain. Feeling their concerns were not being heard as their panic rose, they drove 40 minutes north to Columbus, where the emergency team advised them to take the infant to Riley in Indianapolis.
“I followed my gut,” Bradford said. “I knew something was not right, and I was not going to stop until my baby was seen.”
When they arrived at Riley, it was well past 1 a.m. While her nerves were on edge and she was exhausted, Bradford remembers the kindnesses and the care MJ received.
He was suffering from a double inguinal hernia, requiring emergency surgery.
“Thank God the doctors and nurses took our concerns seriously because he was on the verge of losing blood flow to his intestines and bowels,” Bradford said.
While surgeons took care of MJ, Parsley and the team on 9 East took care of the baby’s parents.
“We felt exhaustion to our very core,” Bradford said. “Angie met us and instantly sympathized with us. She stressed the importance of rest for us so that we could be the best for our baby. She encouraged me to have a meal, knowing I was breastfeeding, and she gave me so much grace, so much compassion.”
That day and the days that followed, Parsley represented “the true definition of what quality, compassionate healthcare should be,” Bradford added.
“We cannot thank her enough for the love she showed our family in our greatest time of need.”
Parsley, who will celebrate her fifth year as a nurse at Riley next month, says she has grown in confidence and clinical skills in that time, but her focus on the patient and family continues to guide her in her job.
“When you get to know your patient, you learn a lot more,” she said, adding that the same holds true for the family.
“By taking care of the whole family, I try to leave them better. It’s way more comfortable now than when I started. The task list is always there, but getting to know my patients and taking care of them personally has definitely changed.”
Parsley shares her perspective with new nurses she precepts on the unit, and she participates in a clinical advisory group that guides newer nurses around the hospital.
While she cherishes the DAISY award – her second – she said every nurse on her unit should be recognized with one.
“I know how hard my floor works with everybody, and I know there are amazing nurses all over the hospital. I wouldn’t be the nurse I am without all the nurses on my unit and my manager and shift coordinators. I couldn’t do what I do without them.”
Bradford is grateful for the entire Riley team that cared for her son.
“The nurses and doctors at Riley are the most attentive people,” she said. “It was traumatizing at first, and then I had the most amazing nurse and team of people around me that kept me together. Our baby was in great hands, and so were we.”
Nominate a nurse who exemplifies excellent clinical skills and compassionate care here.