Alyssa Puccio
August 2023
Alyssa
Puccio
,
RN
Post Surgical Care Unit (PSCU)
Aspirus Wausau Hospital
Wausau
,
WI
United States
Later, he began to hallucinate and became angry when family members didn’t share his visions. This is when Alyssa really demonstrated her extraordinary skills.
Alyssa Puccio was the registered nurse assigned to my 90-year-old father during three of the five days he spent in the Post Surgical Care Unit. Initially, Alyssa exhibited the nursing skills one would hope to experience. She was cheerful and smiling, she gave ample time to answer questions and listen to concerns, and she explained procedures in language my dad could understand. Dad required two surgeries on consecutive days, both with general anesthesia.
As time progressed, he became more and more disoriented, agitated, and dangerous to himself. He pulled out IVs, tried to leave his room, and aggressively insisted on his immediate release from the hospital. Later, he began to hallucinate and became angry when family members didn’t share his visions. This is when Alyssa really demonstrated her extraordinary skills. Alyssa had an innate ability to immediately sense which approach to use with my dad during varying situations. She positioned her body (sometimes even kneeling beside his bed or chair), used caring touch to his shoulder or hand, and changed the tone of her voice and selection of her words to provide him an environment in which he felt safe, understood, and, most importantly, respected.
Alyssa worked miracles. Alyssa’s skills were also evident with my husband and I, who rarely left Dad’s side. She brainstormed options and helped to calm our fears. Alyssa reached out to the doctors for additional information when we requested it. She even hand-wrote Dad’s lab results for me when the unit printer was down. Dad’s room was located in an area on the unit that was the hub of much activity. It was from his room that we witnessed the frenetic pace of Alyssa’s days in order to provide each patient and their families with the loving and compassionate care they needed.
A few days after he was discharged from the hospital, I told Dad I was nominating Alyssa for this Award. He summarized her influence on his care quite succinctly. He said, “Yes, she didn’t treat me like a patient, she treated me like family.” Alyssa was a Godsend for us and the epitome of the perfect nurse.
As time progressed, he became more and more disoriented, agitated, and dangerous to himself. He pulled out IVs, tried to leave his room, and aggressively insisted on his immediate release from the hospital. Later, he began to hallucinate and became angry when family members didn’t share his visions. This is when Alyssa really demonstrated her extraordinary skills. Alyssa had an innate ability to immediately sense which approach to use with my dad during varying situations. She positioned her body (sometimes even kneeling beside his bed or chair), used caring touch to his shoulder or hand, and changed the tone of her voice and selection of her words to provide him an environment in which he felt safe, understood, and, most importantly, respected.
Alyssa worked miracles. Alyssa’s skills were also evident with my husband and I, who rarely left Dad’s side. She brainstormed options and helped to calm our fears. Alyssa reached out to the doctors for additional information when we requested it. She even hand-wrote Dad’s lab results for me when the unit printer was down. Dad’s room was located in an area on the unit that was the hub of much activity. It was from his room that we witnessed the frenetic pace of Alyssa’s days in order to provide each patient and their families with the loving and compassionate care they needed.
A few days after he was discharged from the hospital, I told Dad I was nominating Alyssa for this Award. He summarized her influence on his care quite succinctly. He said, “Yes, she didn’t treat me like a patient, she treated me like family.” Alyssa was a Godsend for us and the epitome of the perfect nurse.