Jana Luce
August 2018
Jana
Luce
,
RN, BSN
Pre-Op
Adventist HealthCare - Shady Grove Medical Center
Rockville
,
MD
United States

 

 

 

Jana's kindness meant so much to me. I am 74 years old and recently widowed. I spent the last several years of my life being the main caretaker of my husband and my mom. Whenever they had procedures or surgery I was always there to drive them both ways and to sit vigil for them in the waiting room. They never felt alone. This past Friday it was my turn to go for a hospital procedure. I had to ask a neighbor to drop me off at the hospital. I entered feeling anxious and sad. The surgical waiting area was filled with people but no one was there for me. I was brought back to a cubicle, instructed to place all my clothing into a plastic bag and settle down in bed, and at that point, I felt totally alone. Enter Jana with a smile as bright as the sun. The first thing she did was to tuck warm blankets around me. She brought me an extra pillow to make me more comfortable. She let me keep my Kindle even though it meant extra effort for her to lock it up later. She recognized that my veins would be hard to locate and instead of torturing me and digging to find a vein, she brought in another skilled nurse who found one on the first try. She walked me to the bathroom and waited outside the door. She explained who would be coming to talk to me. She made me feel like someone was there for me after all. After my procedure was completed she brought more warm blankets, juice with crushed ice, and graham crackers. She made me comfortable in a recliner chair. All this with her bright and beautiful smile. You may be thinking that Jana was just doing her job, but her manner was loving warmth personified. Being on the receiving end of her kindness on a lonely and scary day made a world of difference to me.