Laura S Melby
May 2025
Laura S
Melby
,
BSN, RN
Medicine Overflow
Tampa General Hospital
Tampa
,
FL
United States
Not only was Melby patient (the area was incredibly packed with patients), but always understanding and always willing to help when answers were needed.
My husband was a patient in the Tampa General Hospital, just outside the Emergency Room Area. In describing a specific situation involving Melby, there would be many! When you are in the hospital for 12 days, it is hard to fake care and compassion over that span of time. Not only was Melby patient (the area was incredibly packed with patients), but always understanding and always willing to help when answers were needed. Likewise, she went consistently above and beyond in helping me and my wife understand procedures that were going to be done, the reasoning behind some of the IVs he was getting, and her entire demeanor extended past the best care practices of bedside manner into good conversations and sincere concern.
Her professional demeanor and calming presence were extremely meaningful in helping him to maintain a sense of inclusion as opposed to alienation during this stressful time. There were so many doctors coming and going, each with information that could be difficult to absorb, and she was willing to make the time to explain and give direct statements that helped us to understand what was happening or going to happen. She always made my husband feel included in conversations, never talked over his head, and was inclusive in her discussions about his care - it made a huge difference!
One specific event to us does not an award make, but when you are consistently there to provide hope, good conversations about the future, and show true, genuine care and compassion over that span of time, that is the test of someone who is heads and tails above the others we saw. She was not a "flash in the pan" one moment in time type of nurse, she was a genuinely caring and compassionate individual that we saw on display every day we saw her. The gravity of my husband's situation necessitated understanding personnel who would be compassionate of the sensitive nature of what he was experiencing...this was continually on display with Melby. I hope you will feel compelled to show her how much her actions meant to us, and I'm sure anyone else she was dealing with. In a field of exceptionally good nurses, she was outstanding, and we believe her to be an exemplary example of what it means to be kind and compassionate as a nurse.
Her professional demeanor and calming presence were extremely meaningful in helping him to maintain a sense of inclusion as opposed to alienation during this stressful time. There were so many doctors coming and going, each with information that could be difficult to absorb, and she was willing to make the time to explain and give direct statements that helped us to understand what was happening or going to happen. She always made my husband feel included in conversations, never talked over his head, and was inclusive in her discussions about his care - it made a huge difference!
One specific event to us does not an award make, but when you are consistently there to provide hope, good conversations about the future, and show true, genuine care and compassion over that span of time, that is the test of someone who is heads and tails above the others we saw. She was not a "flash in the pan" one moment in time type of nurse, she was a genuinely caring and compassionate individual that we saw on display every day we saw her. The gravity of my husband's situation necessitated understanding personnel who would be compassionate of the sensitive nature of what he was experiencing...this was continually on display with Melby. I hope you will feel compelled to show her how much her actions meant to us, and I'm sure anyone else she was dealing with. In a field of exceptionally good nurses, she was outstanding, and we believe her to be an exemplary example of what it means to be kind and compassionate as a nurse.