Maria's calling became clear when she and her husband happened upon a motorcycle accident. Maria yelled to stop the car and ran to the side of the motorcycle rider who was lying in the road. She had no education/training in emergency 1st response, but her instincts kicked in. She quickly instructed the others to 'get a blanket' & 'call 911!'. Maria held the man's hand and spoke gently while he passed. She says, 'That's when I knew I never wanted to be that helpless again. I wanted to help others and give back".
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I want to let you know about one of our nurses who did excellent work. Maria cared for a very challenging patient. He had end-stage COPD that seemed to sneak up on him and his family. He was very angry and the nursing staff, Marie in particular, had a lovely way of interacting with him and diffusing his misguided anger. The patient was too sick to fly but wanted to go to North Carolina where his son lived. We created a plan to discharge him with his 2 sons who rented a van and would drive through the night to North Carolina where a hospice team was waiting at the son's home to admit him. The day prior to and the night of discharge, Maria spent lots of time educating the patient and his family about the care he would need including meds during transfer. She stayed late to do so. She went above and beyond with this patient and his family.