Alvin was my night shift nurse the first night I stayed in the hospital. Needless to say I was stressed, frustrated, afraid, and tired. And, of course, not feeling well. While the unit seemed full and Alvin extremely busy, he went above and beyond.

I needed to provide a few stool samples, and within 1-2 minutes of pressing the call button, Alvin was there to assist. When the IV bag machine needed replacing, Alvin heard the beeping and was there with the replacement before I had time to think about it. I never heard a sigh or saw a look of defeat on his face during his long shift. He also provided encouragement and offered many times to talk if I needed any support. Alvin shared insight about dealing with difficult or unexpected tides in life and opened up about personal journeys that surely led him to be the great nurse that he is.

Alvin was attentive, extreamly through, and he fights for his patients. When there was an issue with getting the correct dosage of medicine for my routine medication, he resolved it in no time. Alvin must have arrived early for his shift, because he helped the day nurse do my EKG at 6:45pm. After I had to do an enema at midnight and was not feeling well. I felt as though I wouldn’t be able to get through my procedure the following day, so Alvin came in and sat down to have a meaningful discussion regarding strength and serenity. He deserves any and all recognition available. A healer’s touch means more than I can explain as a patient who is in the hospital for an extended stay especially leading up to the holidays.