I will try to share how exceptional Darby is, but it will be hard because there is no one thing she is exceptional in; just everything! As a nurse her experience and ability to connect with families is beyond compare. Multiple times when I was at my husband’s bedside and offered to move out of Darby’s way, she insisted I stay where I was because “family is so important to a patient’s improvement”. Darby always challenged my husband to try again, do a little more, but she also knew instinctively when to back off. She is compassionate, caring, and made both my husband and myself believe that she really cared for his progress. Darby goes above and beyond for her patients.

One afternoon I heard her on the phone trying to solve an issue of lab work that hadn’t been done. She called all the people who she could to help them solve the issue of getting my husband’s lab test done because she told me “the results could be a matter of life or death” to my husband. I was ready to cry at her persistence. Darby tried to be in the room when doctors came to discuss with us so that she could hear firsthand what they were telling us as to what changes would happen. In case a doctor made rounds before I could arrive at 8:00 am, Darby would seek the doctor out and ask him/her to take a few minutes to circle back to briefly talk with me. Darby is like the teacher you had in school who pushed you to go higher than you thought, gave praise when you achieved, and loved you although it was never said. Darby loved us and all her patients.