January 2023
Samantha
Atamian
,
BSN, RN
Med/Surg (4 Dean)
Englewood Hospital and Medical Center
Englewood
,
NJ
United States
Our family will be forever grateful to Sam for providing the comfort my Mom desperately needed in what were the final hours of her life.
It is very hard for me to talk about Sam without crying. If not for Sam, the situation with my Mom would have been very different and not in a good way. My Mom, in what were the final hours of her life, was able to communicate to me and my siblings that Sam was her angel. Before Sam was my Mom’s nurse on Thursday, she was the nurse for my mother’s roommate in room 4438. Every time Sam entered the room, she said hello to my Mom and any family member or friend that happened to be there. On her way out she always asked my Mom, “Do you need anything?” My Mom was so happy on Thursday when Sam was her nurse. My Mom, who knew at this point she was dying, had many conversations with Sam. Perhaps the most memorable was when my legally blind Mom said “Sam, I don’t see very well but I can tell you are very cute. I have a handsome grandson that is in medical school…Oh, wait, I forgot he has a girlfriend!”
My Mom loved Sam so much that she wanted to make her part of our family. Friday morning at 5:30 a.m., my Mom called me to tell me she had an awful night. She was in excruciating pain and no one would help her. I rushed to Englewood Health. My Mom, fully alert, was begging for pain relief. I tried my very hardest to get someone to make my Mom comfortable but it seemed no one was available. I was incredibly frustrated and upset watching my Mom struggle. I honestly did not know where to turn. When Sam arrived for her shift she was surprised at the change in my mother’s condition. Sam immediately tended to my Mom. She got on the phone and contacted the doctors, requesting pain medications, and explaining and emphasizing the need for pain relief. Sam guided me through conversations with doctors who never took the time to read my Mom’s chart. She helped me make them understand my Mom did not have time for the team to “review” a plan for comfort care. She was dying.
Sam genuinely cared about my Mom. It was her efforts that truly got the ball rolling and eventually gave my Mom some relief. Sam parked her cart outside room 4438 so that she could watch my Mom and be close if anything was needed. Sam administered pain medications promptly and efficiently to keep my Mom in a state of continual comfort. Around 5 p.m. my Mom was transported to Villa Marie Claire. I was waiting there when she arrived. The two transport people told me that when they picked my Mom up at Englewood Health, the nurse said to them “Please, no bright lights or sudden movements, she doesn’t like that.” I was so overwhelmed by those words. Sam made sure the transport people knew to be gentle with my Mom. She truly was an ANGEL. Sam is the best nurse I have ever encountered. She is knowledgeable, she is kind, she is friendly and she goes above and beyond to comfort her patients. Our family will be forever grateful to Sam for providing the comfort my Mom desperately needed in what were the final hours of her life.
My Mom loved Sam so much that she wanted to make her part of our family. Friday morning at 5:30 a.m., my Mom called me to tell me she had an awful night. She was in excruciating pain and no one would help her. I rushed to Englewood Health. My Mom, fully alert, was begging for pain relief. I tried my very hardest to get someone to make my Mom comfortable but it seemed no one was available. I was incredibly frustrated and upset watching my Mom struggle. I honestly did not know where to turn. When Sam arrived for her shift she was surprised at the change in my mother’s condition. Sam immediately tended to my Mom. She got on the phone and contacted the doctors, requesting pain medications, and explaining and emphasizing the need for pain relief. Sam guided me through conversations with doctors who never took the time to read my Mom’s chart. She helped me make them understand my Mom did not have time for the team to “review” a plan for comfort care. She was dying.
Sam genuinely cared about my Mom. It was her efforts that truly got the ball rolling and eventually gave my Mom some relief. Sam parked her cart outside room 4438 so that she could watch my Mom and be close if anything was needed. Sam administered pain medications promptly and efficiently to keep my Mom in a state of continual comfort. Around 5 p.m. my Mom was transported to Villa Marie Claire. I was waiting there when she arrived. The two transport people told me that when they picked my Mom up at Englewood Health, the nurse said to them “Please, no bright lights or sudden movements, she doesn’t like that.” I was so overwhelmed by those words. Sam made sure the transport people knew to be gentle with my Mom. She truly was an ANGEL. Sam is the best nurse I have ever encountered. She is knowledgeable, she is kind, she is friendly and she goes above and beyond to comfort her patients. Our family will be forever grateful to Sam for providing the comfort my Mom desperately needed in what were the final hours of her life.