My wife A was scheduled to have a mass removed and a hysterectomy on Friday. Because of the size of the mass and other complications, the surgery ended up being much more complicated, including needing 2 bowel resections and other additional work that ended up requiring a large abdominal incision. She was in immense pain in recovery and over the next couple of days. While all the nursing staff and aids were really good and caring, A could not get comfortable and was really having issues with pain, and horrible days and nights.

Then on Sunday, Brenda O'Brian was her day nurse. Her experience, expertise, and compassionate care made an immediate difference. She knew just how to make A comfortable, how to ease her anxiety and enable her to rest for the first time since her surgery. Her extraordinary service and compassionate care were an immediate difference maker in A's recovery.

Brenda's experience was evident as she took control and was a calming force for A's discomfort, pain, muscle tenseness, and overall anxiety. Her clinical care and knowledge were top-notch. Not only was her experience evident, but, her above-and-beyond willingness to serve her patients and her compassion were amazing. As A's husband, I witnessed this first-hand, as I spent hours upon hours sitting in A's room watching her be cared for. Brenda was so good clinically and professionally, yet very lighthearted, fun, and caring, and took the time to explain things to us as we asked questions. She made the patient, and family, feel at ease and comfortable, in what is otherwise a very stressful situation.

It was such a busy floor, and with call bells, buzzers, alarms, and other constant distractions, I never saw Brenda get frustrated or lose her caring attitude. Although we knew that Brenda had many other patients in her care, she made us feel like A was her only patient.

A had the good fortune to have Brenda as her day nurse from Sun - Tuesday, which is the day she was discharged. I am certain that A's recovery would have been much harder, and I'll bet even more days in the hospital, had it not been for the clinical expertise and compassionate care of Brenda. She also took the time during discharge, explaining everything in great detail, giving care tips, and making us feel confident in A's ongoing recovery once we left the hospital.

I'm probably not doing her care enough justice in my description. St. Luke's is very fortunate to have Brenda as part of their nursing staff, and we were so blessed to have her caring for A during her time in St. Luke's in Allentown.