Cesario
Tagala
September 2013
Cesario
Tagala
,
RN
Med-Surg
Flroida Hospital Celebration
Celebration
,
FL
United States
Cesario honestly cared for both me and my family with the utmost sincerity and attention which gave me a boost in spirit when I needed it most. My purpose for staying 7 nights in the hospital was unexpected. On my way back from work on a Friday evening, I felt a growing ache on my lower right abdomen. After having friends and family inform me of the urgency of the pain if it was coming from my appendix, my family and I went to the ER to have it professionally diagnosed.
Dr. G pressed my appendix area and I screamed, he already knew it was appendicitis at that point and said I was having surgery that same night. As a healthy 18 year old boy, I never expected to be in the hospital, not for at least another 30 years. I lived my childhood so carefully to avoid all the broken bones which my friends showed off. I never climbed trees and always ate healthy. Unfortunately, all the care I put into my body didn't matter as appendicitis cannot be prevented. "Oh well, the surgery will take 2 hours, they'll keep me here for about half a day and then I'll be back to my normal life," I thought in my head.
Unfortunately, my idea of how my stay at the hospital did not go as I thought. After having to wait 10 hours in the emergency room to finally have my perforated appendix removed, the surgery was not as quick and easy as even my surgeon Dr. L thought. Instead of the usual hour or hour and a half procedure, my operation demanded 3 hours! 2 hours into the surgery one of the hospital faculty went to my parents to give them an update. The update wasn't what they wanted to hear. So not only was I upset, but now my parents as well.
The first day after surgery was rough. The staff from that point on was great! Nevertheless, one nurse stood out from all the rest, Cesario. His calm personality and positive attitude surely helped me feel hopeful of the future after being distressed from a bacterial infection and fever which would eventually keep me in Room 336 for a whole week. Fortunately, Cesario was my nurse for three of those nights. For every one of those 36 hours which he spent with me, I felt both safe and well-taken care of. Cesario was always on time and in good nature. It meant the world to see someone smiling when I was feeling down.
Cesario was my nurse on the nights of August 5th through the 7th. I know that the nomination form asks for specific details, but excellence is not reached through only one situation. Everything he did for both me and my family, from explaining the bacteria infection, the medication, my recovery expectations and how to exercise my body while in the hospital to emptying out my JP drain and taking stool samples, gave us increasingly more hope every night and that I was being well cared for. He recommended that I use my incentive spirometer 10 times every hour I'm awake to avoid pneumonia and walk in the hallways hugging a pillow to comfort my abdominal area. Both of these exercises which he explained to me made me feel more energetic and alive. I had a severe fever for most of my hospital stay. I was usually either shivering cold or sweating hot. With his knowledge and experience, Cesario knew how to treat it every time. He brought me more blankets for when I was cold and ice packs for when I was hot. Every night I would wake up very sweaty. My sheets and bed would even get wet from it! The last two nights he was with me, he changed my sheets 3 times each night so that I could comfortably sleep on fresh linens. Although my condition demanded a lot, Cesario certainly managed to help every hour.
One of his characteristics which also stood out from every other nurse I had was that he was never in a rush to get out the room. He patiently waited there every time to make sure that he attended to both mine and my family's questions and requests. It gave me time to think about whether I needed to inform him of anything before he left. Instead of walking towards the door and asking "Is there anything else you need?", he stood away from the door and offered his hand and his knowledge for my comfort. There was a time when both he and the Charge Nurse were in my room at the same time and they both worked together to give me medication, check up on how I was doing, and update me with the results from my blood culture, stool samples, and JP drain samples. I want to praise Cesario for his excellence in nursing. He absolutely deserves this award!
Dr. G pressed my appendix area and I screamed, he already knew it was appendicitis at that point and said I was having surgery that same night. As a healthy 18 year old boy, I never expected to be in the hospital, not for at least another 30 years. I lived my childhood so carefully to avoid all the broken bones which my friends showed off. I never climbed trees and always ate healthy. Unfortunately, all the care I put into my body didn't matter as appendicitis cannot be prevented. "Oh well, the surgery will take 2 hours, they'll keep me here for about half a day and then I'll be back to my normal life," I thought in my head.
Unfortunately, my idea of how my stay at the hospital did not go as I thought. After having to wait 10 hours in the emergency room to finally have my perforated appendix removed, the surgery was not as quick and easy as even my surgeon Dr. L thought. Instead of the usual hour or hour and a half procedure, my operation demanded 3 hours! 2 hours into the surgery one of the hospital faculty went to my parents to give them an update. The update wasn't what they wanted to hear. So not only was I upset, but now my parents as well.
The first day after surgery was rough. The staff from that point on was great! Nevertheless, one nurse stood out from all the rest, Cesario. His calm personality and positive attitude surely helped me feel hopeful of the future after being distressed from a bacterial infection and fever which would eventually keep me in Room 336 for a whole week. Fortunately, Cesario was my nurse for three of those nights. For every one of those 36 hours which he spent with me, I felt both safe and well-taken care of. Cesario was always on time and in good nature. It meant the world to see someone smiling when I was feeling down.
Cesario was my nurse on the nights of August 5th through the 7th. I know that the nomination form asks for specific details, but excellence is not reached through only one situation. Everything he did for both me and my family, from explaining the bacteria infection, the medication, my recovery expectations and how to exercise my body while in the hospital to emptying out my JP drain and taking stool samples, gave us increasingly more hope every night and that I was being well cared for. He recommended that I use my incentive spirometer 10 times every hour I'm awake to avoid pneumonia and walk in the hallways hugging a pillow to comfort my abdominal area. Both of these exercises which he explained to me made me feel more energetic and alive. I had a severe fever for most of my hospital stay. I was usually either shivering cold or sweating hot. With his knowledge and experience, Cesario knew how to treat it every time. He brought me more blankets for when I was cold and ice packs for when I was hot. Every night I would wake up very sweaty. My sheets and bed would even get wet from it! The last two nights he was with me, he changed my sheets 3 times each night so that I could comfortably sleep on fresh linens. Although my condition demanded a lot, Cesario certainly managed to help every hour.
One of his characteristics which also stood out from every other nurse I had was that he was never in a rush to get out the room. He patiently waited there every time to make sure that he attended to both mine and my family's questions and requests. It gave me time to think about whether I needed to inform him of anything before he left. Instead of walking towards the door and asking "Is there anything else you need?", he stood away from the door and offered his hand and his knowledge for my comfort. There was a time when both he and the Charge Nurse were in my room at the same time and they both worked together to give me medication, check up on how I was doing, and update me with the results from my blood culture, stool samples, and JP drain samples. I want to praise Cesario for his excellence in nursing. He absolutely deserves this award!