During the early morning hours, my father suffered a massive subarachnoid brain hemorrhage and was airlifted to Baptist Medical Center. Nurse Jamie Junot was on duty that night and took the call that he was being admitted. My dad was still conscious when he arrived, and Jamie assured him he was in good hands before he fell into a vegetative state.

The first two nights, Jamie was assigned as his nurse. My mom stayed at my dad’s bedside and instantly noticed her extraordinary service and compassion. Now, my dad has always been a stubborn, independent man, and my mom was worried sick. My mom watched as Jamie worked so hard to keep my dad as comfortable and clean as possible. Though my dad, in his condition, demanded so much attention, Jamie still found the time to talk to my mom and learn that my parents were approaching 51 years of marriage. Jamie also took the time to give my mom, sister, and I her focus to answer our many questions that we had. She explained things in an easy-to-understand way and just made my mom feel great comfort that my dad was in the right place.

My mom would sometimes fall asleep on the couch in the room. The ICU was generally cold, and Jamie took the time to cover my mom with a blanket at night for fear she would get cold. The connection that my mom felt for Jamie was so strong that she asked my sister and me to find out if we could request that Jamie be assigned as my dad’s nurse whenever she was on duty. It was so wonderful that the charge nurse obliged our request and helped to comfort us.

As my dad spent the next two-plus weeks in the ICU, things started to become more and more grim. Based on my dad’s wishes, we began moving towards initiating comfort care. Two nights before we eventually moved him to hospice, I was standing at my dad’s bedside, trying to find the words I wanted to say to him. I was crying and very emotional at the time when Jamie asked if I wanted to take a walk with her around the unit. She asked what kind of person he was. That allowed me to remember and say a lot of good things about my father and growing up. I was able to say a lot of things to my dad that I knew he could hear, though he wasn’t conscious.

Through my rambling here, I’d like to make one thing clear: Jamie was so personable and compassionate that it made our family feel very important and cared about. I’d also like to say that the entire Neuro ICU staff provided such excellent, amazing care not just for my dad but also for our entire family. This did not go unnoticed by us. Thank you to everyone who provided care for my dad.

My dad passed away a few months later in Hospice. I nominate Jamie for this award because she let us know how much she cared about us and helped us through this difficult time. There was just something extra about her. Her compassion, care, and kindness have provided us with great memories during a time when a person wouldn’t think there would be anything positive to remember. Thank you, Nurse Jamie.