Julie went above and beyond in a very difficult time with the illness of my father. Julie had him the first hospitalization when he was discharged home. She called me personally to consult about his discharge care. Daddy loved Julie's smile and personal care. He loved making jokes with her about EMGE bacon. Then my father had to return a third time for a recurring brain bleed requiring a 2nd brain surgery. I work at the gateway heart hospital and when I had to go to work I felt at ease with him in Julie's care on several different days.
When Daddy's illness worsened and it was apparent to me as a nurse that no matter what the physician was saying about him getting better I knew he wasn't going to and Julie did too. She put our hurts, needs, and wishes above her own status and advocated for us as a family to get everything we needed to get Daddy closer to his final destination. She paged physicians numerous times and she risked getting yelled at when she called for a palliative care consult on her own to give them a head's up before the long weekend. She gave our family a suite on the 3rd floor, brought extra chairs, drinks, courtesy carts, and closed the curtains so we could all be in the room with Daddy together. She notified her manager that this was a special situation and that the visitation limits needed to be thrown out this time. She worked very hard to get the physicians and NPs on the same page with us.
Daddy got his ultimate healing earlier this year when he met his Lord and Savior in heaven. Julie took into consideration my elderly mother transporting back and forth from Vincennes daily, my sister from Milwaukee, and my brother from Kentucky. Without Julie's coordination, we would have been much more stressed and had much more hurt and pain. Julie is a true advocate for her patients and their families. Holistic nursing at its best.