Jacqueline Ruffino, RN

Staying in the hospital for any reason is never easy. Where I was staying was on another level, and nothing I had or want to experience again. My blood pressure spiked to fairly dangerous levels during my stay. From the onset of meeting Jackie, she immediately put me at ease, listened, was patient as I asked questions. She regularly checked on me, even, just saying a sweet "hi, just seeing how you are doing?" as she made her rounds. She was always smiling, and as I've learned, a smile can change so much. I'm pretty sure she knew that I was more scared about my heart than anything else. When my numbers would go down, she was just as excited as I was! I felt her true compassion for my situation. Jackie was compassionate, approachable, gentile, and friendly. While I realize that all of the attributes I'm describing are attributes of someone in nursing, or really all people should possess, they aren't. It takes a special, caring person to work in the part of the hospital that she does; I'm pretty sure it's an unrewarding role, and probably not a lot of thank you's or smiles back, which is why I'm nominating her. I'm so thankful, I knew I was safe and in good hands. I cannot thank her enough.