My mother had to have surgery on her hip and was transferred from a rehab facility because she dislocated her hip. She was scheduled for surgery and I currently live in another state and couldn't be there for her. With the distance, I couldn't possibly foresee everything that was going on and was very anxious her entire hospital stay because I couldn't be there and I'm her POA.
She has been progressively becoming sicker and needed a lot of care. It made me feel scared for her and useless that we couldn't do anything for her or support her. The day of her surgery and the days Kyle was assigned as her nurse he would call me frequently with any and every update and I felt like a terrible situation had become something manageable. He answered all of my calls even though I felt like a bother. He let me know when the surgery was finished and explained to me she was doing well and answered questions I was still confused about. Instead of writing my mother off as a crazy lady with dementia, he talked with me on the phone and asked how she behaved normally and wanted to learn the best ways to communicate with her and even asked me what her favorite food was!
I had really felt that he was part of my family, like a brother who was just worried about our mom and calling me letting me know everything that was going on. He took the time to call me when he was getting off to let me know that my mother was still in the post-surgery place when I hadn't heard anything for over 6 hours, later he even let me know he was going home for the night but wanted to tell me he had let the next nurses know that I was her point of contact. I felt bad for holding him up from leaving when he was already late but something so small and simple like that let me know that someone out there was doing all they could for my mother and was trying to make this lady happy.
She has dementia and is unable to communicate clearly but he took the time to learn how to not only meet her basic needs but make sure that anything she needed or wanted would be taken care of. She doesn't speak much and unless asked won't complain or request anything. I am very happy with how the entire situation turned out and so is my mom, she loved this floor and all of their staff, especially Kyle. She told me that they had conversations.
This changed my view of nursing. At UVA she felt like she wasn't just someone's burden. I know that Kyle did everything to take care of my mother and that she was very satisfied. When I asked him how long he worked there, I was astonished to find out he was a new nurse. I would like to thank his preceptor as well for training a wonderful nurse. Thank you for everything you have done for my mother and family it will never be forgotten.