I am a healthy, older Kaiser Permanente Member from California, visiting family in Decatur. Shortly after we arrived, I awoke with flu-like symptoms and the most severe head pain I had ever experienced. After speaking with the Kaiser Advice Nurse, I was advised to go immediately to the Emory University Hospital Emergency Room at 4 AM. I did not want to go, but I did. Over the next five hours, I received the best imaginable care I could have asked for from every member of the Emory ER team.
Gina was the nurse who provided the majority of my care. She was compassionate, professional, attentive, a careful and sensitive listener, with a sense of humor. I thought this might be the end for me. Everything she did and said communicated, "We are here to take care of you." I believed her. She delivered.
She exuded competence and caring. It was so far beyond what I expected, and it was everything I needed at the time. She helped to quiet my anxious mind. She is a truly exceptional nurse, the kind that I hope Emory appreciates, acknowledges, and holds up as an example of the kind of care that each patient needs and deserves.
What Gina brings to her work may be impossible to teach. She loves her work, Emory, and the people she touches. That "love expressed" made all the difference for me. I will never forget her and every other member of the Emory ER team who loved on me. Yes, I felt loved. What a gift.
By the way, I am still above ground and healthy. I have always believed Kaiser was the best health care system in the world. In Kaiser's teaming relationship with Emory, I have experienced a partner who also rises to the highest possible level of professionalism and caring.
I am so grateful to Gina and Emory.