Friends wonder how Jennifer Althausen can bear to be around sick kids all the time. Althausen admits there are hard days, especially when she works with young patients in the technology-dependent intensive care unit at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta at Egleston.
“What I love is that in this situation I can bring a smile to their faces,” said Althausen, 25. “I know God wanted me to be a nurse.”
One of nine children and the granddaughter of two nurses, it was no surprise that Althausen would be attracted to nursing or to pediatric rotations when she attended nursing school at Malone College in Ohio.
Still, in the beginning it was hard to adjust to the fast pace and constant demands of working in a leading children’s hospital.
“I never know what each day will hold, and when children are in isolation, we’re visiting them in blue gowns, yellow gloves and masks. You have to calm their fears first, and that’s a tough job,” said Althausen, a nurse for more than two years.
Because she wanted to have more time to meet the emotional and physical needs of her young patients, Althausen began volunteering at the hospital during her off hours.
“That’s when I have time to rock babies, play with kids in the playroom or find out what a child really likes to do,” she said.
Last June, Althausen visited McKenna and her mother, Amanda Moon, on her day off. McKenna, 2, had been in the hospital for weeks with a disorder that causes extreme vomiting.
“Her mom had been with her constantly, and I could tell she was having a hard time. I just wanted to give her some support,” she said.
Althausen arrived with flowers for Moon and fun activities for McKenna. She also was ready to play with the toddler so her mother could take a break. Moon knew her daughter was in good hands; she’d often seen the young nurse go above and beyond her duties.
“When I came back from my break, my daughter was having the time of her life. McKenna and Jen had made jewelry, colored and played together,” Moon said.
McKenna was wearing pigtails, which she now calls “Jen” tails.
“She is truly an angel placed on earth by God to care for the little ones that are sick,” Moon wrote in her nomination.
Althausen knows she made the right career decision when she chose nursing.
“This is a very, very rewarding job,” she said.
