My husband, L, had a major surgery this summer. He had his bladder, prostate, and 20 lymph nodes removed due to cancer. Within a day of his surgery, while in the ICU, he descended into hospital delirium. During this delirium, he removed all of his tubes and started running down the hall. Kat said, "Mr. L Where are you going?”. And he responded, “I am going to call an Uber and go home”. He has never called an Uber in his life, and he thought his home was his childhood home in upstate NY. Kat tried to take him back to his room and L kicked her in the stomach. Kat got security to come and get him back to his room. Two security guards had a very hard time but were able to get him back in bed with restraints. Kat called me to tell me what happened, it was around 11:30 pm. She told me what happened and that he was safe but restrained. She also let me speak to L and he was clearly confused and fearful. This was our first experience with hospital delirium. What an awful and scary situation for both of us.

Kat reassured L that I would be with him shortly and got approval for me to come up to the floor. She removed a chair from his hospital room and replaced it with a recliner for me to with him overnight and hopefully calm him down. Unfortunately, he thought Kat was stealing his furniture out of his childhood house. He made a racial comment, she did not tell me, but I heard it. Kat not only reacted calmly in this situation, but she was also compassionate. I apologized profusely on behalf of my husband; this is completely unacceptable. She said it was not a problem and she has heard racial comments from other patients. Kat mentioned she cared for him during the day and witnessed him being kind and sweet. She explained to me what hospital delirium was and got me in touch with a psychiatrist to provide medication. Kat was not only exceptional in this situation, but she also showed professionalism, calm, and poise while in crisis. She showed knowledge in explaining the medical reason for this situation and more medical situations that occurred that evening. She was extraordinarily attentive and hyper-focused.

In the morning when L got out of the delirium, he did not remember much, but when I told him he was horrified by what transpired. Especially, with Kat. L really thought highly of Kat and recognized she was outstanding. Kat continued to consistently show calm, hyper-focused leadership, knowledge, grace, and compassion. We were in the best hands possible.

L has spent over 34 days at Morristown since this summer. We have experienced many nurses over that time. However, no other nurse has even come close to what Kat possesses as a nurse. Kat should be considered for a leadership position because she is step functions ahead of everyone else. Morristown should do all it can to not only retain her but give her the opportunity to fly. She will not disappoint.