Gina Garcia, RN, CCRN, made a huge impact by showing kindness and compassion to her patient and his family.

My father landed in MICU after complications from surgery. My mother and I arrived after Dad had been transferred from recovery to find a small army of doctors and nurses trying to stabilize him. Among them, was his nurse Gina, who was clearly as concerned as we were. Gina immediately stepped through the chaos to help us and give information, letting us know exactly what she and others were doing. She continued this for over an hour while they built Dad's blood pressure back up. As Dad stabilized, the stress on me and Mom reached a tipping point and we decided to leave. Gina immediately sprang into action again and located a wheelchair so Mom didn't have to walk all the way back to the main parking lot.

As it worked out, Gina returned as Dad's day-shift nurse the next two days. She called me a couple of times a day to give me updates. On Saturday morning when she called, I made an unusual request; would she turn on the World Cup soccer match so Dad could watch it (he was still intubated, so he wouldn't have been able to ask). She enthusiastically said yes, realizing her patient was another soccer fan, and said she'd definitely do that and they'd be great friends because of it.

Between hospital stays and surgeries over the last several months, I've had the opportunity to observe nurses in different areas of UMC. Most have been very caring, informative, and helpful, but Gina distinctly stands out from the others: she is truly a standout nurse. She went well above and beyond to help not only Dad, but us. She was the ideal model of a nurse, showing great empathy and a caring attitude to all of us. We have been so moved by Gina's work and attitude and the belief that she is a top performer that Mom wanted to make sure her supervisor and the UMC administration knew of her work and how appreciative we are.