My husband, R, was fortunate enough to have Mary as his daytime nurse for three days while he was a patient at ARMC recently. After being in the ER for eight hours plus with uncontrollable, severe pain, he was admitted to the hospital on Monday and still in pain. When she walked in, she first apologized for being late coming to the room. I've never had a nurse do that. She showed care and concern to R for all he has gone through in the last month (diagnosis of stage 4 cancer and chronic pain). She brought me coffee and a newspaper and began to be very attentive to R and his health issues. I would call her an old school nurse, the type who gives lots of TLC and who loves her job. We had an instant rapport with her, in everything she does she gives 100+ percent. After having a different career much of her life, she went to nursing school in her late 50s. As professional as she was, she soon felt like a friend. I knew she had many patient rooms to cover but she never rushed or gave us the feeling that she just didn't have time for all of our questions and concerns. She explained every medication she administered, every procedure she followed and every directive she received from the doctors. She made sure she covered all of R's needs and always called the doctor if she was unsure of a course of action. Her goal was to relieve him of his pain and constipation and make him as comfortable as possible until he could be scheduled for his first chemo treatment.
She was always caring and loving as if we were members of her family. I trusted her so much because she showed so much love to us in her words, facial expressions, and actions. She came to the room every time we needed her. She made us feel special, but I'm sure she makes all of her patients feel special.
Another characteristic I noticed about her is that she is always respectful of other hospital personnel. She was courteous to the doctors when she spoke with them by phone, and always introduced us to anyone who entered the hospital room from different departments within the hospital. She made a couple of suggestions to us about resource people we would need. She put us in contact with a palliative care physician's assistant. She thought I should contact R's oncologist to see if she knew he had been hospitalized and would want to visit him. I did, and the doctor came that evening to see R. She will not be content to stop learning. She plans to further her education so that she can become even more knowledgeable in the nurturing care of her patients by earning her bachelor's degree and possibly her master's degree. ARMC should feel blessed to have this nurse on their staff.