My mother was admitted to 2W after a fall at home. The attending physicians decided that she would remain overnight. What happened next was unexpected for the family, rather than improving Friday night, my mom had deteriorated rapidly. She became combative, aggressive, loud, argumentative, vulgar, animated and would not stay in her room. She became the patient no hospital wants to deal with. Family members immediately jumped in to assist hospital staff to do whatever we could to help. That is when we met a Nurse named Fred Ordonez. Mom was assigned to Fred as part of his patient load for the day. There was no relief for Fred and staff as mom went 34 hours without sleep and was fully animated the entire time.

Throughout it all, Fred was a pillar of strength and calmness. Fred never backed away, never wavered. He provided care to my mom all day long with nothing but total compassion and a desire to see her get well. Fred did a fantastic job of explaining to family what was going on treatment wise. Family members are totally convinced that mom could not have had a better nurse than Fred. Even after mom was moved to the Critical Care Unit, Fred would come by on his breaks to check-in and see how mom was doing - we all knew Fred was one in a million at that point.

In our opinion, VMC is extremely lucky to have such a dedicated RN as Fred and is surely a better hospital with him on their team. His devotion and compassion for his job are remarkable. He truly embodies the essence of the DAISY Award and truly deserves its recognition.