Rosemarie has the ability to make me feel comfortable, warm, and cared for, while in the hospital. I have high-functioning autism and I have decided to write this pseudo-first-person narrative, I hope you enjoy our story.
As an autistic 32-year-old, I find the world very challenging. Simple things that most people think nothing of are daunting—or maybe even impossible—for me. One of those things is coming to the hospital; I know the ER exists for emergencies, but I don't like burdening people. I also know that because of my autism, I have special needs that are outside the regular routines and practices of the nursing staff and others. After talking with my girlfriend for two hours, I relented and went to the ED when I was admitted and brought back to the surgical ICU step down unit.
I have had four neurosurgeries in about a month and psychologically -not to mention, physically—this has been very hard on my body. I have PTSD from spending 10 months in the hospital, 6 of them in the ICU from a post-op infection from the first instance of having cord compression, viz. cauda equina syndrome. Given my issues with the hospital environment, I knew being at Maimonides for an extended stay was going to be troublesome. So, I told the doctors immediately that I have autism, as well as the nurses, and gave them some information so they could best do their jobs. Everybody was professional and caring, and everybody made me feel cared for. Not for one minute did I feel like a "freak" and I am very grateful for that.
When I met Rosemarie a few weeks ago I introduced myself as autistic; I told her some of my triggers, what I do to self-soothe, how she could be supportive, and told her, "I am a non-confrontational, nice person in general. Just speak to me in a slow, soft voice; you may have to repeat yourself, but I am listening, I will hear you." She smiled and squeezed my hand and said "We got this!" in a very forceful tone that made me feel that I am in good hands!
The award prompt asks me to talk about specific things that show her going above and beyond and language like that. The thing is, I don't think Rosemarie treated me any differently than any of her other patients, which is exactly how she went above and beyond in making me feel safe and cared for at Maimonides. I am not exaggerating when I say that I have had experiences where I have felt bona fide tortured in medical settings by staff and its policies. I never once felt anything remotely like that with her.
Rosemarie was able to plan ahead, think about my needs, anticipate any potential problems, and solve them before they happened. She did this while juggling a very diverse patient population, being overworked and working very, very hard. I know she had a similar impact on all her patients; she is amazing, and she is young, you are so fortunate to have such a strong-willed, smart, capable nurse working at your hospital. I hope she finds herself going into administration to put her thoughtful touch on the place as she progresses in her career.