Belinda Gamboa, BSN, RN

Belinda Gamboa is the case manager for CVICU and does an excellent job managing her workload. On top of this, she goes above and beyond for her patients.

One patient in particular was awaiting open-heart surgery and had a long weekend stay while he waited. Through her initial assessment, she found that this patient was a very accomplished artist who loved painting and drawing. This patient hadn't had any visitors as of yet, and he was completely bored out of his mind in this patient room for the multiple days until surgery. He hadn't been able to bring many things from home because of the emergent state that landed him in the hospital.

Belinda saw her first encounter with this patient as an opportunity to go the extra mile and make a difference in the stay for this patient. She went out of her way to buy him painting supplies so he could continue his artwork while in the hospital.

This patient was grinning from ear to ear, happy tears almost brimming as he marveled at the supplies she had brought for him. He immediately got to work and painted his first work of art while at UMC. We hung it up in his room to give him something beautiful to look at throughout the day.

Belinda's heart and compassion really shone bright with this patient interaction, and it is exactly the kind of compassionate care that makes her an outstanding role model for others in her department. She is an inspiration to all who work with her, and both CVICU and its patients are lucky to have her in our unit.