I have been inpatient on 4 East for 89 days and have had every nurse that works on that floor. There was not a single nurse that did not give me the finest care possible but Louise went above and beyond. Being stuck in a room for as long as I have been here is becoming very depressing quite fast. Louise always made time in her busy schedule to take me outside for even just a few minutes. Sometimes it was after all her other patients went to bed, but she found a way to manage her work that still gave her time for me. Going outside always changed my mood. I could have been having a horrible day but just a few minutes of fresh air would change my day into a great one. If we couldn't go outside because of the weather Louise would take me for long walks to other parts of the hospital for a change of scenery. Louise is also very easy to talk to and she is always calm no matter how rough her shift is going. When she was my nurse I found my anxiety at being stuck here went way down because her calming presence calmed me. She let me talk about my fears of being sick and gave me great suggestions on questions to ask my doctors or she gave me things to do to take my mind off the anxiety and fear.
My case was complicated as I had 3 surgeries to try to revise my stomach and the first two were not successful. I had a lot of difficulty keeping a bag on my stoma and I was getting very frustrated because as soon as I would change one bag it would leak and I would need to rip it off and start all over with a new bag. After a while, I became very discouraged as the only thing that was happening from all the bags was that my skin was becoming raw and sore. Louise came into my room when the wound/ostomy nurses were here and she watched how they took care of my iliostomy. She asked questions and learned how to change my bag and troubleshoot potential problems. So, for weeks she would help me try to put the bag on even if she wasn't my nurse for that shift. She would come in and calm my anxiety and I didn't feel so alone. The wound nurses were not here on the evenings or weekends so Louise stepped in and helped me. I think it's pretty amazing that she was so motivated to learn how to take care of an ostomy.
One night the nurse that was taking care of me had no clue how to help with my iliostomy so Louise came in and showed the nurse what to do. She also helped figure out a plan to keep my skin from becoming even more raw before the wound nurses came back the next day. When I had to spend six weeks sitting in the same chair suctioning my stool and unable to sleep she would pack me in a wheelchair with tons of towels and took me outside so I can have a change of scenery. She came in my room when she had a few extra minutes and spent time with me distracting me from how miserable I felt.
Louise went above her job duties and did more for me than I could have ever hoped. I have had many excellent nurses but Louise is by far the best nurse I ever had. If every nurse was even half as good as Louise, then the healthcare profession would be beyond amazing. Please honor her with the DAISY Award because she is the perfect example of an amazing nurse who changes lives. I am truly honored and grateful to know her and have had her take care of me, I could never begin to thank her enough for all she has done.