A patient who expressed sincere gratitude and appreciation for Carol's nursing care recently. The patient is a middle aged female whose primary language is Spanish. This patient wished to credit Carol with "saving her life" through her advocacy and the education she provided. The patient expressed to me that she had recently suffered from a heart attack and stent placement. She didn't fully understand the implications of having heart disease and she returned three days later as an outpatient to attend the Angina/Heart Disease class. During the class, she explained to Carol that she had been having chest pain off and on for several days. She described Carol as patient and kind. Carol described all the education to her and to her husband who spoke only Spanish. She provided one on one time to help this patient and husband understand heart disease instructions while allowing adequate time for the education to be translated to Spanish. Before the class was completed, Carol became concerned about this patient's symptoms and transported her to the ED for further care.

Carol followed up with this patient and family throughout the subsequent hospitalization and called her at home. The patient ended up getting another stent placed as a result of Carol's intervention and advocacy which likely prevented a second heart attack for this young woman. Carol went above and beyond with this patient by sitting down and taking the time to listen to the patient's concerns and symptoms despite the language barrier. The patient was very grateful and repeatedly thanked me for all that Carol had done for her and inspired the patient to make healthy lifestyle changes.