The patient was admitted to St. Luke's on Saturday, September 26, 2015 after suffering a massive heart attack in route to his grandson's wedding at St. Roman's Catholic Church. Ana was one of the first RNs assigned to his case. The family had the opportunity to meet Ana for the first time after the wedding ceremony. She was calm, cool, and collected tending to him and answering all of our questions. She confidently worked to get him stable and comfortable. She also tended to us and tried to reassure us as best as she could.
Ana's exceptional care continued on Sunday. She spoke so kindly to the patient as she did her work. She also voluntarily described what she was doing and why for the family which we found very helpful and informative. We got to know Ana as she shared a bit about her experience and background. She said that she likes complicated cases like his. Ana's passion and commitment to her work and patient was clearly evident. We felt so fortunate to have her as his nurse.
On Sunday afternoon, Ana's skills would truly be tested. As Ana was checking his medicine she noticed that his stats were quickly declining. Ana immediately pressed the alarms and a team of professionals rushed into the room and performed CPR. Thankfully, they were able to revive him. Once he was stable, the staff rushed him to the Cath Lab. Ana didn't forget about us and came to the 3rd floor waiting room to provide us with an update. We were so worried and she explained that he didn't have any incidents on the way to the Cath Lab. Ana continued to work hard the rest of the shift and still had energy to provide us information and support.
Ana was truly committed to seeing him through and was able to be assigned to him on Monday. We shared our appreciation for all that she had been doing. Ana was so modest and said "I'm just doing my job." She also was quick to recognize the doctors and her colleagues. While Ana may have only been doing her job, she performed exceptionally!
Ana surprised us on Tuesday and was assigned to him for four hours. We were so grateful that she was able to work with us some more. We really appreciated the continuity of care, particularly given his precarious situation. Ana was terrific not only caring for him but also interacting with our family. Because many of his family members have medical training, questions were constantly being posed to Ana, which she handled remarkably. We managed to have a few laughs which helped to calm our nerves. She was so patient with the patient and our family. She also was encouraging and candid which we greatly appreciated. Given the high level and range of emotions we all were experiencing, Ana was our rock and we found great comfort in her.
While the care provided by all of the nurses has been wonderful, our experience with Ana really stood out to us as exceptional! We will forever be indebted to Ana for the care she has provided. Her skills, abilities, and professionalism are truly deserving of special recognition and the DAISY Award.