My uncle was admitted and required emergency surgery. He suffers from many chronic conditions and has had multiple major surgeries in his nearly 75 years of living. In 2012, he received a donor kidney after years of dialysis. The emergency surgery was a success. However, the disruption of antirejection medications days before presenting to the hospital, coupled with dehydration and infection, caused my uncle to experience renal insufficiency. Despite the optimism that he could recover from this acute event, my uncle made the decision to stop all treatments. We pleaded with him to reconsider, but in the end, we listened to him, and we honored and respected his wishes. The team transitioned him to comfort care and connected us with the hospice team.

He transferred to the 2nd floor MedSurg unit. This staff is friendly, responsive, and helpful, and they work very well together. Kudos to the director! A special shout out to the patient satisfaction liaison, who complimented the nursing team.

Now, about Joe...I came in early this morning, just after the change of shift. Joe saw me, and he came right into the room and introduced himself. He asked how he could help us. My Uncle immediately connected with him, and we explained our biggest goals for the day were to get him discharged to hospice and to have a peaceful, comfortable day. Joe was on it! Joe made sure my uncle had hygiene products and linen. He made it a point to discuss the discharge plans with case management in morning rounds and expedite them. He assisted my uncle with the urinal and noticed he was distended and hadn't voided for two days. He scanned his bladder and saw he exceeded the estimated volume to straight cath but opted to contact the doctor and get an order for a Foley, given his situation. The order was written, and Joe, with help from another nurse, inserted the catheter successfully and got well over 2 liters of urine! My uncle was so relieved.

Joe found a recliner for my uncle and helped him get out of bed. He sat in that chair most of the day and enjoyed more food than he had eaten in 2 weeks. My uncle said more than once... “Joe, You’re an Angel.“ Joe checked on us throughout the day and helped us exceed the goals of the day. I watched Joe as he helped his colleagues and hustled all day to care for the patients in this unit. Joe and his co-workers laughed throughout the day, which made my uncle happy. He said, "This doesn't feel like a hospital."

From the bottom of our hearts...Thank you.