Chloe Dennison

I work in the Heart Center which is a joint unit of a Stepdown and ICU unit where I work with children who have congenital heart defects, pulmonary issues, and other diagnoses. I have almost finished orientation for the ICU unit, and feel very comfortable working with the different acuity situations.

• At Rainbow’s End we work with kids from 8 weeks old up until they go to kindergarten. I specifically work with kids between 20 to 28 months old. During this age we try to converse with the children as much as possible as many of them are starting to form more coherent sentences.
• Focusing on gross and fine motor as well as trying to keep their social and emotional health on track for their age.
• Advocating for our students to get the services they might need for behavioral or speech therapy.
• Providing somewhere these children feel safe as their parents are at work. This age group is often very emotional when parents leave so it is important to make sure these kids feel safe during their day.

• I completed a nurse extern experience at St. Louis Children’s Pediatric ICU this winter, to gain further experience and better develop my nursing skills.
• Learning about the day to day of a critical care nurse. I was able to further develop my skills when working with patients and their families.
• Learning about time management, and how to properly set myself up for success in a stressful environment.
• Developing relationships through interdisciplinary teams, while also becoming more confident in my abilities of talking with residents, fellows, and therapies.