Jeffrey Merrill
May 2016
Jeffrey
Merrill
,
BSN, RN
CICU
Maine Medical Center
Portland
,
ME
United States
During five long days that were unnerving, overwhelming, and profoundly uncomfortable for our family, Jeffrey was either the nurse or the charge nurse responsible for the care of my father-in-law. Throughout this difficult week, Jeffrey demonstrated kindness, transparency, and an authentic commitment to caring for my father-in-law.
From the first day when he greeted us at the patient's bed-side with a warm smile and an unspoken message that he would thoughtfully attend to him, my husband and I felt a tremendous amount of relief.Knowing that my father-in-law would be in Jeffrey'shands during the long night hours when we didn't know minute-to-minute what was going to happen, allowed for moments of rest that we wouldn't have gotten otherwise. When someone you love is in a critically ill state, there is little-to-no space for thinking and breathing. The ability to walk off of an intensive care unit knowing that the nurse cleaning, medicating, and talking to your loved one truly cares, allows for moments of reprieve from the nightmare, and this is just what Jeffrey offered to us.
Jeffrey spent time explaining the complex machines to my husband and me, educating us about medications and physiology, and making himself observably available for our questions at any time. Never once did we feel that we were in the way or that our questions were unnecessary or juvenile. Coming into this life-changing experience as the new wife in a large Maine family, I can't thank you enough, Jeffrey, for the moment when you made my husband laugh for just one second during that awful week. I could have hugged you for giving him that moment of life during a time when I felt so helpless.
Jeffrey carries a compassionate and genuine energy, paired with an intellect and innate wisdom that reflects the epitome of nursing excellence. I know that I speak for our whole family when I say that Jeffrey allowed us to feel more connected to my father-in-law during the days before he died at Maine Med in a way that we will never, ever forget.
On behalf of our entire family, thank you from the bottom of our hearts for your sensitive, empathic care.
From the first day when he greeted us at the patient's bed-side with a warm smile and an unspoken message that he would thoughtfully attend to him, my husband and I felt a tremendous amount of relief.Knowing that my father-in-law would be in Jeffrey'shands during the long night hours when we didn't know minute-to-minute what was going to happen, allowed for moments of rest that we wouldn't have gotten otherwise. When someone you love is in a critically ill state, there is little-to-no space for thinking and breathing. The ability to walk off of an intensive care unit knowing that the nurse cleaning, medicating, and talking to your loved one truly cares, allows for moments of reprieve from the nightmare, and this is just what Jeffrey offered to us.
Jeffrey spent time explaining the complex machines to my husband and me, educating us about medications and physiology, and making himself observably available for our questions at any time. Never once did we feel that we were in the way or that our questions were unnecessary or juvenile. Coming into this life-changing experience as the new wife in a large Maine family, I can't thank you enough, Jeffrey, for the moment when you made my husband laugh for just one second during that awful week. I could have hugged you for giving him that moment of life during a time when I felt so helpless.
Jeffrey carries a compassionate and genuine energy, paired with an intellect and innate wisdom that reflects the epitome of nursing excellence. I know that I speak for our whole family when I say that Jeffrey allowed us to feel more connected to my father-in-law during the days before he died at Maine Med in a way that we will never, ever forget.
On behalf of our entire family, thank you from the bottom of our hearts for your sensitive, empathic care.