My mom was admitted to Kaiser on Sunday. She was transferred to 6 West where she received care from the staff, but most importantly RN Marcela Gutierrez. My mom was in stage 4 cirrhosis and her kidneys were shutting down. She was released on Tuesday, to hospice, passed away on Friday.

My mom hated and was scared of hospitals due to the many visits she had endured over the recent years. Marcela Gutierrez was the perfect RN for her. From the start, she was kind, warm, understanding, very professional, and was able to assure her during her stay at Kaiser.

During the short 2 1/2 day stay, my mom was actually free from the fear and felt completely comfortable in her care. Marcela was respectful, and answered all the questions we had. She was able to come in and out with little disturbance, made complete eye to eye contact with my mom and me, never allowing us to feel like we weren't the most important patient in the hospital. She rubbed and patted my mom's arm, which if anyone has a loved one in the hospital knows the power of the human touch. And my mom responded to that!

My mom's last hospital visit was as perfect as it could be. During her stay, my mom found out about the DAISY Award and as one of her last wishes, asked me to write something nice about her nurse. I'm so grateful to Marcela Gutierrez.