Rebecca Sparango cared for my sister during her 4 day stay in the VICU.  She was her nurse the day we got the news that her treatments were not working, and we needed to discuss end-of-life decisions in light of the advanced directive. Words cannot describe the emotions our family was feeling. After the doctor left, Rebecca remained in the room and, with both empathy and compassion, offered words of comfort and support and answered our many questions.

Knowing this award recognizes those who go above and beyond, it is important to share that the following day, when Rebecca was assigned to care for my sister, she made herself available to our family.  Because she had established such good rapport and spoke with both professionalism and compassion, it was our desire to get reassurance from her and ensure that the information we received from the doctor the day before lined up with what we were being told by the doctor who was on call the next day.

Rebecca spoke of her respect for both doctors’ skills and reputations, reassuring us that their professional opinions could be trusted and that my sister’s final wishes would be honored with care and dignity.  Rebecca’s reassurance made us all feel so much better in light of the difficult decision at hand.