Nurse Linda comes and takes care of me when she doesn’t have to. She comes by every day to make sure I’m okay – like did I take my medication, did I eat. Nurse Linda goes above and beyond her duties. She treats me like a PERSON, not so much like I’m a patient. Nurse Linda does a lot for me. I’ve been difficult to deal with and she is always there for me. Nurse Linda has even stayed late for me when I needed help. In all my years of nursing, I have never met a patient that was too difficult to work with. To say that this patient is “difficult” is an understatement. The patient can be extremely uncooperative in their care and downright demeaning to the staff. As a result, it can be somewhat agonizing to get through a shift when you have this patient assigned to you. Then there is Linda Saavedra! She works as our nurse patient ambassador but has taken that role to another level. She takes it upon herself to sit down and really talk to this patient. She finds out how his day is going, what is bothering him, and what she can do to make his day better and talks to him about his treatment plan. He frequently refuses a lot of medications, tests, and procedures but Linda takes her time in explaining how these tests would benefit him. Linda has even assisted the nursing staff in giving medications to make sure that the patient takes them as he refuses them regularly. Furthermore, Linda has even taken the time to do small acts of kindness at each encounter, such as washing his hair or shaving his face. The patient trusts her, and I feel that there is a mutual respect between them, which is a very big deal! I believe that she has proven to the patient her genuine heart and has really chipped away at his tough interior; as a result, the patient is more cooperative and has softened his demeanor towards everyone in general. This line of work, I feel, does take a lot out of you and sometimes you are left with compassion fatigue. I am humbled by Linda’s compassion to reach out to this patient. The amount of time she has put into meeting with this patient has proved to be effective not only in the patient’s care, but also for the staff taking care of the patient. Some people just need to be shown a little more kindness and it is truly amazing to see it in action. It is a reminder to me of why I got into this career and why I became a nurse. Thank you, Linda!