Erica McDonnell

Finding out I needed to be admitted to a hospital 4,000 miles away from my home in England was a daunting experience. My parents could not always be with me, due to having to fly back and forth to work, so I was extremely fortunate to have the best team of nurses who helped me through everything. They turned a scary situation into days that included a lot of laughs and smiles, even during tough times. I loved every single one of my nurses but there was one nurse that I am extremely thankful to have met. At BCH, I had to have an NG tube placed in the middle of the night. I had never had one placed and I didn’t have anyone in the hospital with me. Fortunately, one of my favorite nurses was there. Erica noticed straightaway that I was unsure about things. She made sure I saw the NG tube first so I could see what it was like and then explained everything to me, making things significantly easier. When it was time to place the tube, Erica stayed with me throughout, and gave me a hand to hold. Through my entire stay, she took me on walks at all hours so I could have a change of scenery, helped distract me from everything going on, and always knew how to make me laugh. All my nurses on 9 East supported me through everything from my first bite of pizza to getting into university. I can’t put into words how grateful I am to my nurses; and I really can’t thank them enough.