Jacqueline Pollack, RN

With a brief synopsis of my stay, I’m a chronic pain patient. I’ve been under the care of Dr. K (hands down the greatest physician in your system!) and, unlike some patients in my condition, I do not expect to be constantly medicated, and I completely understand what the nurses and the doctors, for that matter, are allowed to do. With that said, living in chronic pain, I’ve been permitted to formulate a pain management plan at home. The amount prescribed is dangerous to almost everyone on the planet. Nurses that are not familiar with me are very cognizant of this.

I was admitted in the late afternoon. I lay on an ED bed for several hours, then moved to the room bed, which constantly moved for DVT protection. This was absolute agony for me. I spent the entire night awake and spent the second half in the room’s recliner. It was a horrible night. I was there for an unrelated issue, so I did not want to put my pain issues on them. But they noticed anyway. When the 7 AM shift came on, I was introduced to “Nurse Jackie!” She researched my case and realized by studying my overnight heart monitor that I had been up all night and very restless. I was on the verge of leaving the hospital when I called the nurses to sign out. Jackie came in the room and formulated a plan of action that not only made my stay infinitely more comfortable, but she also motivated the staff involved in my course of care to help me as well. If it wasn’t for her, I would have signed out of the hospital and possibly missed the underlying reason I was there to begin with.

I am married to a nurse who works for your system. I’m well aware of the job they do and how hard it is. Seeing the pure amount of compassion that was displayed by “Nurse Jackie” truly restored my faith in humanity. She has it in spades and is absolutely worth every praise I can give her.

Please recognize her for her outstanding abilities and, most of all, her heart. It’s a big one. I believed mine was failing. She was the one bright light in my time there. And I’ll always appreciate her for what she did for me.