...There was a very fine gentleman who meant so much to my family for the last 71 years. He had always been the person who took care of all of the troubles and worries his family encountered, until 3 months ago when he suffered a stroke. I call this gentleman, Uncle. After his stroke 3 months ago, Uncle became dependent on many others to take care of him, and suddenly he could not repair all of the worries of his family. He spent almost two months at Genesis during his first stroke. During his stay there, there were a couple of unfortunate events that really questioned my family's ability to leave him at the hospital unsupervised (without our family present all of the time). At a time when we all wanted to focus on his recovery, everyone became very paranoid of his safety and care. Eventually he was able to transfer to a nursing home to continue his path of healing and recovery. He was making enormous strides, and we were all very hopeful and faithful. He was able to come home on a few different days to spend time to enjoy family and friends in his own home. Unfortunately, a couple of weeks ago, he suffered another stroke. Uncle had already asked his family to promise to not take him back to Genesis. He was transferred to Trinity Rock Island, and that is where he lived the final days and moments of his life.

I know that there were many great nursing assistants, nurses, and care providers who took care of Uncle on the days that I was not able to visit him, but a couple of Friday evenings ago, I sat by him in his hospital room and I enjoyed the company of the sitter who was keeping a watchful eye on him (sorry I cannot recall her name). The sitter was very nice, and made the hard situation better by being kind and warm in her demeanor and conversation. This Friday evening happened to be the last time I saw his eyes open, and any indication that he knew who I was or what I was saying. I honestly did not think that this was going to be the last time he would be awake, aware, and able to communicate with me.

It may have been coincidence, but the nurse who cared for him that evening was Katie Goldensoph. Even though Katie is a good friend of mine outside of the hospital, I couldn't have asked for a better coincidence. Katie was respectful and caring in all of her actions from helping me put up a fall wall decor on his hospital room wall, listen to a few stories about how special Uncle made all of our family's Christmas celebrations, and she listened to a couple of family favorite songs that he made amazing attempts to try to sing along to the chorus. Katie's kindness and approach to caring is something easier seen and felt by seeing her work as a nurse than what I can describe in my own words. Katie's presence, great personality, caring approach, and therapeutic communication will be forever etched into my heart with the last memories I spent with him.

One last thing I wanted to let you know was something that was acknowledged at Uncle's funeral service. His son, J, was the minister for the funeral services. During the reading of Uncle's obituary, J noted that he had passed away at Trinity Rock Island. J stopped to mention gratitude and immense thanks for the great care, professionalism, and wonderful caregivers who had taken care of our whole family for what came to be the final ten days of Uncle's life with us. I wanted to make sure that for those staff members who may have not heard someone say thank you; .. I know that this is short, and simple, but my family truly says THANK YOU all, so very much.

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Katie is a great leader and is always willing to help out when needed. The patients speak highly of her and are grateful for the kind and compassionate care she provides even when it is not her patient, she is able to jump right in no matter what the situation may be! She is truly an exceptional nurse and deserves this recognition.

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After Katie worked a very busy 8 hours on Med 1 recently, she offered to float out of turn to Rock Island for the remaining 4 hours of her shift. She took care of a gentleman whose family wrote the letter above. She went above and beyond to show kindness and support to this man and his loved ones and truly made a difference. This was their last night with him and she gave great comfort to them. They knew that he was being well cared for.

This is just one example of Katie's kindness and professionalism. She shines every day that she works and makes the day better for not only her patient, but her co-workers as well.