Russ Mueller

“Russ was very attentive to our needs.  Even though he was not the discharge nurse, he spent a lot of time demonstrating the correct ways to get up, dress, & sit while explaining the bio-dynamics of why it was necessary.  He also advised fully on the duties of caretaking and the necessities of having the caretaker take care of herself.  A very comprehensive and excellent nurse, who took the time to talk to us about the effects of the patient’s procedure and the best ways to promote his recovery.  Bravo Russ!!”

“Each time Russ measured my vital signs, he explained what my readings were and the goals for each measurement to be discharged.  After my mentioning poor sleep during the previous night because of excessive noise, Russ brought me ear plugs, after his shift was over.  (The excessive noise generated has now been moved to another room.)  In summary he went above and beyond his duty. I am a cardiac patient, impressed with the Quality Care from the Kaiser staff.”

“For some reason, perhaps unfairly, it seems that every nurse, every firefighter, every person and every social service position has a prejudice that not only are they human but they must be perfect and completely committed when it comes to their job. I should have realized that nurses are just people as you and I, but prejudice,(or pain meds), had me expecting each and every one of them to go above and beyond their job-  which actually, I'm quite sure they must. Russ was not the only nurse I could have dedicated this card to; Marle, Joe and a handful of others really made my stay seem like a vacation rather than a recovery. Russ though, was there for me during the most painful stages and those are surprisingly the least stressful ones of my stay. There wasn't anything superhuman about his work. He was simply a nurse that enjoyed his job, (or was really good at pretending he did) and made sure his patients and probably his coworkers too, were as comfortable and at ease as they could be. I will end this by saying that had it not been for Russ I highly doubt I would have enjoyed my stay.”