March 2024
Kimberly
Penn
,
RN
Psychiatry
ProMedica Flower Hospital
Sylvania
,
OH
United States
I started to cry again, but this time it was because I felt safe and warm, something that swallowing a pill wouldn’t have been able to achieve.
Kimberly Penn is a nurse on night shift at Flower Hospital. The night is the worst time for me because I almost never sleep. I will always remember her nightly pep talks and encouraging words that made me feel so safe and loved. One night when I was in the hospital, I was having an especially bad day and I remember that I had been crying. I remember going to my nurse for the night, Kim, and I believe I asked for an as needed medication. Instead of going along with my request, Kim sat down at a table with myself and several others and started a game of UNO. I still remember the brightness in her face and her laugh and how safe I felt playing cards. I started to cry again, but this time it was because I felt safe and warm, something that swallowing a pill wouldn’t have been able to achieve. It is easy to tell that nursing is not something that she does just to pay the bills, you can tell that it is something she does because she wants to make the world a better and safer place for people struggling with their mental health. And that is what she does. Thank you, Kim, for all that you do and for the compassion that you spread. You make such a difference, and I will never forget you. I only hope that one day I can affect someone else so positively in the same way that you have affected me.