“My mom had been admitted to Memorial Hospital due to complications from Sarcoidosis. On the afternoon of February 19, 2011, she was rushed to the ICU where my dad and I were told that her liver was shutting down and there was nothing the doctors could do to save her. Adrienne Walsh was the nurse assigned to my mom’s care during this difficult time. She displayed compassion and sympathy for our situation but was a huge support to me and my dad while we made the difficult decision to let my mom die in peace rather than put her on life support until my siblings could arrive from out of state. She allowed me to cry on her shoulder without making me feel like I was keeping her from her work, yet she still took the time to provide my mom with whatever she needed to treat her with respect and dignity every human being deserves.

After my mom passed away a few hours later my dad wanted to take home my mom’s wedding rings; a symbol of the last 52 years of marriage that my parents shared together. Unfortunately, at the time, her fingers were so swollen we were unable to take them off. So we left the hospital with Adrienne’s business card where she had also written her home phone number and told us to call her if we needed anything. Later that evening, Adrienne called my husband at home to tell him she was able to remove my mom’s wedding rings and she would be happy to drop them off at our house on her way home from work.

The simple gesture Adrienne provided is why I believe she deserves this award. Her professionalism was expected that day, but Adrienne went above and beyond that when she took time out of her own personal schedule to make sure my dad had the only part of my mom he could hold that night.”