5 /5 Roberta Tecumseh: Edited:Our family’s experience at Harborview pediatric burn ICU was overall positive, & we are deeply thankful for the incredible care our son received during his stay. The medical team, including doctors, nurses, physical therapists, & occupational therapists, went above & beyond in saving his life. We witnessed so many staff members treating our son with immense care, respect, & love. Some nurses even took the time to pray for him, which meant so much to our family. The staff made him feel special, loved, & cared for, which helped him through such a challenging time. He developed close bonds with his own favorite medical team, & we are so grateful to all of them. Your hard work and dedication do not go unnoticed, & we truly appreciate the amazing staff at your hospital.
We want to express our deep gratitude for the hard work & commitment of the entire team involved in his care. From doctors to support staff, its clear that they all had a genuine concern for our son’s well-being, and we will forever be grateful for their efforts. We are incredibly thankful for the medical professionals at Harborview who helped save our son’s life. There are so many positive experiences that we can’t even list them all, and we’ve encountered countless respectful, kind, and hardworking professionals throughout our time there. A few challenging experiences don’t define the whole hospital, and the good far outweighs the negative. We appreciate the hard work, compassion, and dedication of everyone involved in our son’s care, and we are forever grateful for the support your team provided. Thank you to the entire medical team for everything you’ve done for our family! While our overall experience was very positive, there were a few areas where we felt there was room for improvement. 1 thing we would have appreciated is an option for parents to stay overnight with their children in the Pediatric Burn ICU, or at least to have a nearby space to sleep where we could be close to our baby. It was difficult to be away from him during such a critical time, and having the option to stay with him overnight would have been a comforting and necessary reassurance.
There were also a few interactions that left us concerned. On 1 occasion, we observed a nurse applying hand sanitizer over her gloves when entering our sons room, which raised some concerns about infection control practices.
Additionally, there was a nurse who was not as patient with our son when changing him. He was recovering from sensitive wounds on his bottom, & she changed him in a quick and aggressive manner, which felt unsettling given his condition. The same nurse was on shift when our son got a bump on his forehead. She removed a protective sheet from his crib railing, which had been placed there to keep him from injuring himself during tantrums. After he hurt himself, she only replaced the sheet afterward. We requested that this nurse not return, but despite our concerns, she was brought back by the aggressive charge nurse, whom we found to be less than respectful in her communication.The aggressive charge nurse of the unit, showed a lack of respect toward us and other visitors, including speaking inappropriately in front of our 3-year-old burn survivor. While we understand that stress can run high in such environments, we believe it’s crucial for staff to communicate respectfully, especially in front of vulnerable patients and their families. We voiced our concerns through the proper channels but did not see immediate changes. We believe that with some communication training, this aggressive charge nurse could be an even greater asset to the team, especially considering her experience as a burn survivor herself. Finally, while Harborview is an excellent hospital, there were limitations when it came to equipment for burn survivor children. Our son had to be transferred to Seattle Children’s Hospital, which had specialized equipment better suited to his critical care needs. That said, we are grateful to Harborview for stabilizing our son and giving him the opportunity to recover.
