I was brought into Winchester Medical Center's Emergency Room for multiple TIAs. I was a heavy smoker and that evening the ER nurse tried to give me a nicotine patch, of which I refused.
I was scheduled for an "echo" on Monday so I stayed in the hospital over the weekend. When I got to my assigned room my nurse was Seneca Schue. Seneca, her aide and I got to know each other and these two catered to my every need. They were great nurses. We laughed and joked around because they knew I didn't want to be here.
The next day Seneca offered me a nicotine patch in the morning, of which I refused, and another one in the evening and, again, I refused. I was trying to go cold turkey.
Come the third morning, I had gone fifty hours without a cigarette or any aid. I woke up with a fairly heavy depression. Every couple of minutes I was breaking into tears; didn't really know why. Seneca came in to check my morning vitals and saw that I was upset and asked me if I was alright. So, I tried to explain it to her but I really didn't know what was going on. The next thing I know Seneca pulled up a chair next to my bed and sat down beside me. She stopped everything she was doing to talk to me. It seemed like I was the only patient in the hospital and she was going to make sure I was alright.
Seneca sat there until I had straightened myself out. We decided that it could be nicotine withdrawal so I let her give me a patch to try. After that, I never had another depression episode the rest of the time that I was in the hospital.
I have never had a nurse actually pull up a chair and sit down and just talk to me as a person. It takes a lot to impress me but Seneca did and I will never forget her for it.