Deena Barber, nurse program coordinator for the Adult Congenital Heart Disease (ACHD) program, has seen a lot of change in her 36 years as a nurse at Akron Children’s Hospital. But one thing that hasn’t changed in all that time is how she treats her patients. “My most important responsibility is to alleviate fear,” she […]
Fran Feesler named Magnet Nurse of the Year
Although she was recently named Akron Children’s Magnet Nurse of the Year for exemplifying excellence in professional practice, Fran Feesler, MSN, APRN, FNP, an advanced practice provider (APP) in the Heart Center, didn’t initially plan to become a nurse. “I have a degree in elementary education, but in the early ‘90s teaching jobs were scarce,” […]
Surgery for blocked tear duct leads to congenital heart defect diagnosis
New parents Cassie and Michael Amick spent the better part of 2020 looking forward to the birth of their first child, a boy, due in late February. Ashton Michael Amick made his entrance into the world on Feb. 3—3 weeks before his due date. “Besides being a little jaundiced for a day, he appeared […]
Surgery to repair leaky valve mends 4-year-old’s “broken” heart
Addisyn Piekarski and her mom, Kristen, had just the right outfit in mind for Addisyn’s Jan. 13 follow-up appointment with her heart surgeon, Dr. Robert Stewart. Sporting a shirt covered in small hearts, with a large, sequin heart in the center, seemed fitting to meet with the man who just 8 days earlier had repaired […]
