Miriam Ramirez
April 2016
Miriam
Ramirez
,
RN
Critical Care Float
Saint Barnabas Medical Center
Livingston
,
NJ
United States
Miriam Ramirez's clinical skill and especially her compassionate care exemplify the kind of nurse that our patients, families, and our staff recognize as an outstanding role model.
Being an employee of Saint Barnabas Medical Center I know that hard work that everyone in the building does to make the patient experience better. We all strive to do what is right and best for the patients and families that enter into our hallways. I write this letter to you not as an employee but as the daughter of a patient who spent his last days here in the building I call my "other home."
My father was admitted to the hospital as a patient on March 3rd and unfortunately as the week went on he became very ill. The doctors and nurses on 5700 and the ICU did everything they could to make my father better but he was just too sick. On Friday, March 11th after a discussion with the ICU physicians my family had to make the decision to place my father on hospice care. It was not an easy decision and the ICU nurses were wonderful. On Sunday, March 13th as my sister and I sat with our father in the ICU the ICU nurse Miriam approached us. She told us that she was going to clean our dad up and asked if our dad normally had a beard. We told her no. My father had been in the hospital since March 3rd and had not been shaved. We left the room for about an hour and upon our return we found our dad clean shaven, his mustached trimmed, and his hair so nicely combed. My dad looked like my dad and we both started to cry.
One could say what was the bid deal, but for us it was a big deal. Miriam's simple act of compassion was overwhelming. She wanted us to have our dad look the way he always did, she knew his time with us would not be long. The entire time she was with us in the ICU she had a gentle, caring, and compassionate touch. We thanked Miriam as we were transferred out of the ICU but she will never truly understand how that one simple act of kindness changed everything for us that day. In all of the sadness we have had I find comfort in what she did for our father that day. She allowed us to see our father as he always was. On March 15th my dad passed away peacefully.
We should all strive to remember that one simple act of kindness can have a far reach impact on a family.
Being an employee of Saint Barnabas Medical Center I know that hard work that everyone in the building does to make the patient experience better. We all strive to do what is right and best for the patients and families that enter into our hallways. I write this letter to you not as an employee but as the daughter of a patient who spent his last days here in the building I call my "other home."
My father was admitted to the hospital as a patient on March 3rd and unfortunately as the week went on he became very ill. The doctors and nurses on 5700 and the ICU did everything they could to make my father better but he was just too sick. On Friday, March 11th after a discussion with the ICU physicians my family had to make the decision to place my father on hospice care. It was not an easy decision and the ICU nurses were wonderful. On Sunday, March 13th as my sister and I sat with our father in the ICU the ICU nurse Miriam approached us. She told us that she was going to clean our dad up and asked if our dad normally had a beard. We told her no. My father had been in the hospital since March 3rd and had not been shaved. We left the room for about an hour and upon our return we found our dad clean shaven, his mustached trimmed, and his hair so nicely combed. My dad looked like my dad and we both started to cry.
One could say what was the bid deal, but for us it was a big deal. Miriam's simple act of compassion was overwhelming. She wanted us to have our dad look the way he always did, she knew his time with us would not be long. The entire time she was with us in the ICU she had a gentle, caring, and compassionate touch. We thanked Miriam as we were transferred out of the ICU but she will never truly understand how that one simple act of kindness changed everything for us that day. In all of the sadness we have had I find comfort in what she did for our father that day. She allowed us to see our father as he always was. On March 15th my dad passed away peacefully.
We should all strive to remember that one simple act of kindness can have a far reach impact on a family.