I just wanted to take a few moments to praise the care my husband received on 4A/B during his hospitalization. After many long stressful hours in the EC, we arrived to your unit shortly before midnight. A travel nurse was assigned to my husband and he was pleasant and enjoyable. He did inform me that I would need to leave though, as visiting hours were closed at that time. I understood and left after getting my husband settled into his room. My husband called at 0500 informing me that they were taking him to the cath lab that morning and he was scared and needed me to come to his side. Even though visiting hours had not started yet, I went to his side as a dutiful wife should. No one rushed me out of his room even though I was there long before visiting hours were supposed to start, for which we are very grateful. This was an incident of where compassion comes before "rules." Please do not reprimand anyone for allowing me to stay by my fearful husband's side prior to his procedure.
The shift changed and Alyssa became our nurse. And what an excellent nurse she was! She was caring, compassionate, and funny! She helped put us at ease during such a stressful time of our lives. She is a perfect example of what a caring nurse should be. My husband had been NPO for quite some time and she personally went to the grille and ordered him some food upon returning from his procedure. She rejoiced with us upon learning that his cath was clean and we could go home that day! She had positive interactions with other staff that came and left my husband's room. I know as a former nurse myself, how often we just hear about the complaints in our line of work and rarely hear the thank yous and positive feedback. She is so deserving of this award.
The patient called the nurse manager recently and reported that Alyssa had been his nurse. He was very pointed in saying that he had worked fire/EMS for the last 34 years, so he knew that the care he received from this nurse was exceptional. "She is an excellent nurse and caregiver. She had such a great demeanor and was just kind. I had not eaten, and she went to the cafeteria and got me food. She just spent time really talking to me and I know she had other patients." This patient was very complimentary of his care on the floor but wanted to be sure Alyssa was recognized. He mentioned his wife is a nurse practitioner and that they wanted to ensure Alyssa was nominated for a DAISY Award because she deserves all the recognition she can get.