My family has had a rough couple of months. My great Aunt passed last week, after a lengthy battle with dementia and hospice care at home, at the beautiful age of 94. During this time, my uncle was diagnosed with end-stage pancreatic cancer. Our world has been turned upside down. As we prepared the service for my great aunt, my uncle was taken to Baptist Downtown ER via rescue for severe dehydration and fever. After almost 24 hours in ER, he received bed placement on Weaver 6. Since admission, we have had the most amazing staff caring for him. One nurse especially has gone above and beyond the role of bedside nurse; his name is Ben.

For several shifts, every time Ben comes to my uncle’s bedside, he seems to give a brief recap of the previous shift, which helps reinforce our plan of care. He then goes over the options for meds, bath, and any other needs we may need for the evening. When I say “we,” it’s because Ben makes sure to address the family, not just my uncle. He includes him in decisions, which is easy to omit due to his weakness and sometimes sleepy nature. Please remember how raw and tired our entire family is from the events of the week, therefore making Ben’s clarity and patience an amazing gift. Ben is the type of nurse you want caring for yourself or any of your family members. Ben consistently would use positive and encouraging phrases but also provide firmness in the tasks needed for the shift or for my uncle to concentrate on. He took the extra time to calculate his daily protein intake needed daily and how important it was and wrote it on the board for his family to remember even when going home. He is the nurse that you feel comfortable leaving a family member in his care if you leave the bedside because he provides an amazing knowledge base and attentiveness that warms and comforts you.

I appreciate all the staff on Weaver 6, they should all be commended for their kindness, introductions on entering the room, and gentle spirits. Please especially recognize Ben on night shift for myself and my family because during times of high stress and worry, he is an answer to prayers and the sunshine you need in the room to get to the next shift. I have been a Peds RN for 15+ years, and I wanted to take the time to recognize a fellow staff member because we don’t always build each other up as we should. In this situation, it was amazing to see this excellent team work so well being on the end of the care being given. The entire stay has been easier for my family with Ben and his team, for this we are extremely grateful.