My husband was a patient at UVA this summer. He was being treated for an infection in a knee replacement that was performed 5 years ago. We had several very professional and good nurses while he was a patient there for 10 days, but one nurse stood out above the rest. I can't say enough about Dana. She not only took excellent care of him, but she made it a most enjoyable experience. She told us stories about her family and growing up in the Charlottesville area, that made us both laugh. When you are in a hospital setting and going through what my husband and I went through, it is so nice to be able to laugh and take your mind off of your worries and anxiousness.
Dana gave us very good tips for his care after we were released. She arranged for our medications to come from the pharmacy in a timely manner, before our discharge. We live 3 hours from UVA and my husband was on a pic-line upon being discharged, with IV antibiotics to be given every 4 hours. She arranged his blood infusion early that morning so we could be discharged at a good time in the afternoon since we had a 3-hour drive. Dana pushed him in the wheelchair to the front of the hospital and even helped him into our vehicle comfortably. She knew Home Health would be meeting us upon arrival at our residence to administer the first IV antibiotic.
Then the biggest surprise of all, we had not been in our home for 5 minutes and the telephone rang, it was Dana, she wanted to know if we had arrived safely home and if Home Health had made it to our home to assist us. To me, this was so over and above her duties. Wow, what a nurse, and a great first experience for us at UVA!
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Dana went above and beyond for me and my family, and my sister-in-law L, when L was struck by a Nazi party protester who drove a car into a crowd of people in Charlottesville, Virginia, in August 2017.
Dana was very warm, helpful, explanatory, as well as being a skilled nurse. She inquired as to how she could go beyond what we thought our needs might be or whatever it was facing us at the moment. She particularly counseled me on how to spot a concussion that presented days or even a few weeks after the domestic terrorism attack my sister-in-law faced.
It is hard to overstate how rare a talent Dana is. She really seems to have the knowledge and experience, but also the sort of innate talent a great nurse exhibits. Thank you for recognizing the work of great nurses like Dana.