September 2021
John
Brendich
,
RN, ADN
HP5
Northwestern Medicine Palos Hospital
Palos Heights
,
IL
United States

 

 

 

What really sets John apart, in my opinion, is his ability to encourage recovery.
John has been my mom's nurse for 3 days -truly a rarity- likely due to short staff. This worked in our favor. My mom is a handful. She is stubborn and demanding. She also will ask the same question 13 times, just looking for answers, even though time generally IS the answer we need. He is incredibly patient and does a great job going through the details with her and then reporting the same thing to me. We never felt rushed; we never felt neglected. He should be commended for his bedside manner. While that should be standard nursing practice, we have (unfortunately) been admitted a few too many times. What really sets him apart, in my opinion, is his ability to encourage recovery. My mom is not a fan of blood draws. She would get distracted by John. He intentionally would tell stories about his Italian grandmother's cooking and some of his favorite recipes. My mom loves to tell everyone about her sauce and he willingly absorbed all of her "tips"; meanwhile - "poof", the blood stick or other process she didn't love, was over. He was a Godsend to reduce her anxiety and expedite her recovery. Thank you John for being amazing to my mom.