My 81-year-old husband spent six weeks in the hospital and stayed on four different floors. Every nurse and every tech he had was so nice, very patient, and so agreeable with his sometimes crazy stories and antics caused by his dementia. I wish I could give every one of them an award.

There was one special nurse, Nikki, who helped us both on this journey. He had to wear mitts on his hands so he wouldn’t pull his tubes out, and Nikki made a game out of it going in and boxing with him. Helping to ease his anxieties. It didn’t take long for her to learn his likes and dislikes and to share that with everyone else. She would always check on him when she was working, and it made me feel like I had a family member there when I wasn’t, and I could feel at ease. She joked with him and cheered up his days, and even though he may not remember, I do.

I had some tough decisions to make for him, and while others doubted what I wanted, Nikki made me feel confident that I was making the right choices. When we talked about him moving to the Rehab floor, I questioned what it was like, so she took me up there and showed me around. Of course, there were doubters of his capability to do the intense therapy, including the insurance company, but Nikkie was 100% in my corner and encouraged me to fight for what I wanted. He got into rehab, and everyone was amazed at how well he did. But me and Nikki knew he would.

Thanks, Nikki!