Jennifer M. Krueger, R.N.

My husband J was in St. Marys for a scheduled open-heart surgery. It was an extremely stressful time for us. Early that morning, my daughter H and I were anxiously waiting outside J's preop room while the prep was being done. Soon we were told that we could go back into the room. Moments later, I heard someone say, "Did she seriously pass out?" I then noticed that H had not followed me back into the room, so I went back out and found her lying on the floor. Kind of a blur after that, but I remember nurses immediately helping her up into a chair, asking many questions: diabetic? History of heart problems? Someone said, "This looks like more than anxiety."

She was very pale and diaphoretic, so Jennifer got her into a room and hooked her up to a monitor. She checked H's pupils and said they were dilated, got on the phone in the room, and called for a rapid response team. Within seconds, about 5 doctors and more nurses appeared. They evaluated her and quickly determined that it was not serious, but she was still shaky and dizzy so Jennifer said that they would take care of H while I went back to be with J. Then Jennifer came into J's room and said that it was important for H to be able to give her dad a hug and a kiss before he went back for surgery, so she helped J walk over to H's room. Jennifer was so genuinely kind and caring, and an absolute angel. She really stood out and I will never forget how she helped us through this trying time.