How do I best describe the most outstanding nurse I have ever encountered? What she did for me was above and beyond what anyone could ever expect from a nurse. Below is a description of our emergency room emergency room visit by ambulance at about 11:00pm.

Due to a blocked catheter, the on-call urologist said to go to Lutheran ER. They tried everything including replacing the catheter to no avail. By this time it was early Monday morning and the pain was excruciating and I was losing blood at a fast rate. Since everyone seemed to give up and I was on the floor of the ER room as I could not sit or lie down due to the pain. One of our family members went out to see if the urologist was contacted and a young nurse named Nicole said she had experience and would like to work with me. What compassion and dedication as she was getting off shift and was willing to help me for the next one and one half hours slowly and gently flushing the catheter which gave me the only bit of relief in the wee hours of the morning.

The next day before her shift, she came to see me in PCU after my surgery early that morning. She was so happy to see me doing okay and showed me the palm of her hand with a red mark the size of a half dollar which is the size of the syringe.

As a former board member for multiple terms on hospital boards, I would like to congratulate this hospital for hiring and recognizing a nurse who is superior in so many ways and exudes skill in nursing along with a high level of compassion for the patients.