Heather Bisca with her Nurse Manager Christina Hartwell
July 2014
Heather
Bisca
,
BSN, RN
Emergency Department Observation Unit
The Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania
Philadelphia
,
PA
United States

 

 

 

I was a patient in your Observation Unit this past Friday evening to Saturday evening. One of my nurses during this time was Heather Bisca.

Now I should start off by telling you that I usually don't send notes like this, but I was so moved to write you because of Heather. You should know that I am a cardiac patient at HUP and I came to the hospital Friday morning for a cardioversion on 8 founders. I was feeling lightheaded, dizzy, and had shortness of breath. I was admitted through the ED and was sent over to your unit Friday evening. I had been telling my story of what I thought was wrong with me to several doctors and nurses as well as nurse practitioners who were all listening to me but not hearing what I was saying. No one was addressing my issues and I felt everyone was coming to their own conclusions, but no one was seeing the big picture, that is until Heather!

I had become more frustrated after 3 nurse practitioners had come to me to discuss the reason I was there. After they left and Heather started her rounds, she took notice that I was upset and frustrated and that's where the magic and compassion of Heather Bisca turned things around for me!!!

Heather took the time to not just listen to me, but to hear what I had to say. She immediately assessed the "big picture" and went into action on my behalf. This was the turning point of my hospital stay. Before I knew it, I had in front of me a doctor from my heart failure team to review everything and look at the big picture.

Heather's commitment to her profession of providing quality care with compassion, respect and professionalism is exemplary. She became my advocate and was responsible for determining the appropriate delegation of tasks to protect the safety and rights of me, her patient.

I believe Heather holds true to the University of Pennsylvania Health System's commitment to remain a world-leading institution through patient care and service excellence.