While a stay in a hospital is never the experience anyone desires, Nurse Amina, almost made it an enjoyable experience.  She was empathetic, caring, and informative.  She made my treatment and hospital procedures understandable.  You could tell from her demeanor that she truly loves her job and will do all in her power to make her patient comfortable and try to address all of their concerns regardless of the time required. 

Like any situation where one is handed off from institution to institution, the information provided along the way is limited and, sometimes, inconsistent.  I went from urgent care to a free-standing ER, to the hospital in hours.   My understanding of my care plan from the ER staff was that I needed an IV infusion of antibiotics to deal with a bacterial infection and that I would need to spend a night in the hospital.   

The morning after I was admitted, I listened to the report from night to day nurse.  Then, I asked when I’d be released.  Both nurses were incredulous.  Amina took the time to educate me about what to expect and the amount of time it would take the lab to process the blood tests and cultures taken at ER. It did a lot to relax me.  I wasn’t stuck in the hospital because I was deteriorating, it was just the routine course of treatment. Each time a medication was administered, she made sure to tell me what I was being given, what it was for, and, for the IVs, approximately how long I’d be tied to drip line.  

She was also my medical instructor.  My medical knowledge is minimal and she explained the typical treatment and what to expect and the purpose of the various drugs I was receiving.  It really helped me to understand the treatment I was getting and gave me insight into what was happening beyond my room.  She explained how long it took to culture blood and how long it normally takes to isolate a bacterial infection in the bloodstream.  Although I knew she had to be busy, she also seemed calm, relaxed, and happy.  She never rushed through an explanation or made me think I was asking a silly question.  She even spent a few minutes just talking.  She knew that social interaction is just as important as medications in patient care.  She ensured that she was treating the entire patient.  

She also worked with me regarding the schedule.  Not changing it, but letting me know when I was going to get my meds.  The first morning, I was trying to navigate eating breakfast while having an IV in my arm. Challenging for me.  Amina let me know when there were gaps between IVs and I then scheduled meals in the gaps.  A more pleasant experience.

While I can testify to the professional and caring manner in which she treated me, I also observed her deal with another patient on the day of my discharge. My former roommate had been discharged the previous night and another patient was admitted and brought in to share my room early the next morning.  Difficult would be an understatement.  The new patient had an agenda, to immediately be transferred to a nursing home, and was unwilling to cooperate with the nurses when they were trying to get a patient history.  (She had been recently released from ICU and had returned to the hospital after going home.  She was unable to get the care and support needed there.)  She just told the nurses that she was in pain and to look at her chart. When Amina spoke to her, Amina never lost her patience or her caring and empathic attitude, regardless of the STRONG provocation provided by the patient.  

When it was time for my release, Amina went over the discharge instructions and made sure that I knew what I was taking, when to take the prescriptions, and how to take them to minimize the side effects.  While I was glad to get out of the hospital and back to my home, I feel lucky that I had Amina as my nurse.   I wanted to express my appreciation for the great care that she gave me and feel that her contribution to patient care should be recognized