It's very hard to pick a specific situation worth mentioning regarding the exceptional care Krystal delivers to her patients because she truly shines every single day as a nurse in our department. She is responsible for all of our pregnant and postpartum veterans. Contrary to belief, VA Loma Linda has a very hefty population of expectant mothers but somehow, she manages them all with grace. She cares limitlessly for every single patient she encounters. As difficult as it is to coordinate the care for her patients, she consistently makes the extra time to speak to patients with respect, laugh, and celebrate them during the happiest times of their lives, and pours her heart out for them during some of the worst. I have firsthand seen her go above and beyond her call of duty to ensure patients are cared for not only in the sense of maternal health but as a whole person.

We recently hosted our annual veterans baby shower in the women's clinic, which was a big success! This is a private event to which expecting and newly delivered veterans are invited. As you can imagine, this is a very busy and hectic time for us, and I would say most people would set their normal routine duties aside for the sake of the event. However, we know that is just not the kind of nurse she is. After a very long and busy day she returned to her desk to a phone call from a community care provider asking for a pregnant veteran’s authorization. Upon review, we found that this patient had never been seen by our VA, nor was she aware of her pregnancy. At this point, she could have simply dismissed the call, stating the patient is not using VA benefits for her pregnancy, and called it a day. She did not. She took it upon herself to get the patient established in the VA system and contact her at that moment to explain that she is entitled to VA benefits and could help her! This patient began to cry in relief as she explained to her that she has been going through a really hard time and was needing a lot of assistance as a newly divorced single mother of 4. It was at this point she took the extra time and effort to get the patient established with our mental health team, and our peer support specialist, as well as brought her into our Baby shower event all in the same day. This veteran expressed how difficult things have been for her and how thankful she was for her compassion and assistance that day.

The love and appreciation she gives her patients and coworkers are unmeasurable. She is a diamond in our department, so rare and so valuable to us! If there is any nurse here that deserves this recognition, I truly believe it is her.