Alissa Wilcox
December 2023
Alissa
Wilcox
,
RN
Infusion Procedural Center
University of Virginia Health
Charlottesville
,
VA
United States
Alissa was constantly explaining everything and double checking on her flu shot which arm she preferred and too many acts of kindness and compassion she exhibited in our 4 hour visit.
I have been on a journey with my wife as she battles cancer since 2014. We have gone from shocked at the diagnosis to a portion of her lung being removed to radiation to chemotherapy to now a clinical trial. We have been from UVA to the Mayo Clinic and a couple of stops in between. I come from a family of nurses and my son went to a predominantly nursing school to get two of his degrees. In short, I've been around a lot of nurses and nurses in training.
Today was the first time we ever met Alissa and had her as our treatment nurse. From the very beginning, you could tell she was at the epitome of her profession with a Florence Nightingale type of comforting. It started with a broad smile that caused her eyes to sparkle; you could tell behind that mask that it was effervescent and genuine. Alissa started by asking my wife, "Which do you prefer to sit at? Window or corner wall? we are on the 4th floor and the window frightens some visitors." The next thing she told my wife was, "Let's get you comfortable first; would you like something to drink and a warm blanket? Let's make your pillow fluffy and would you like your feet up and your chair heated?" Then after she was confident my wife didn't want anything else she went into great detail about the infusion process the wait times and the items ordered by the oncologist.
Alissa then began to explain to my wife how she needed to draw an additional lab. One of her liver tabs had a molecular cell breakdown of some kind and they wanted to make sure everything in her treatment process was perfect. She stated, "I'm telling you this all because I have read your chart and you are a difficult stick. I want you to relax and know that as uncomfortable as it is I am going to take good care of you and I apologize for the additional stick." On a side note, she got it on the second try! Usually, it takes 4 to 6 tries for my wife's veins to cooperate.
Alissa was constantly explaining everything and double checking on her flu shot which arm she preferred and too many acts of kindness and compassion she exhibited in our 4 hour visit. The special qualities I thought was I could overhear her treatment of a first-time Chinese patient who was receiving carboplatin and my wife went down that road so she explained it perfectly and considering she was working through a translator you could see the relief in this patient's face when he'd smile and nod! I truly think she is a definite asset to this hospital.
Note: This is Alissa's 2nd DAISY Award!
Today was the first time we ever met Alissa and had her as our treatment nurse. From the very beginning, you could tell she was at the epitome of her profession with a Florence Nightingale type of comforting. It started with a broad smile that caused her eyes to sparkle; you could tell behind that mask that it was effervescent and genuine. Alissa started by asking my wife, "Which do you prefer to sit at? Window or corner wall? we are on the 4th floor and the window frightens some visitors." The next thing she told my wife was, "Let's get you comfortable first; would you like something to drink and a warm blanket? Let's make your pillow fluffy and would you like your feet up and your chair heated?" Then after she was confident my wife didn't want anything else she went into great detail about the infusion process the wait times and the items ordered by the oncologist.
Alissa then began to explain to my wife how she needed to draw an additional lab. One of her liver tabs had a molecular cell breakdown of some kind and they wanted to make sure everything in her treatment process was perfect. She stated, "I'm telling you this all because I have read your chart and you are a difficult stick. I want you to relax and know that as uncomfortable as it is I am going to take good care of you and I apologize for the additional stick." On a side note, she got it on the second try! Usually, it takes 4 to 6 tries for my wife's veins to cooperate.
Alissa was constantly explaining everything and double checking on her flu shot which arm she preferred and too many acts of kindness and compassion she exhibited in our 4 hour visit. The special qualities I thought was I could overhear her treatment of a first-time Chinese patient who was receiving carboplatin and my wife went down that road so she explained it perfectly and considering she was working through a translator you could see the relief in this patient's face when he'd smile and nod! I truly think she is a definite asset to this hospital.
Note: This is Alissa's 2nd DAISY Award!