I came into the clinic for my EKG appointment. Nurse Porter called me back and she was very pleasant. While doing my EKG she explained everything. This was very important to me because five days prior I had an EKG done and they told me to just lift my shirt up. The nurse gave me a drape and to make sure that nothing affected the test she had me take off all metal. Her kindness and patience with me are something that I have never experienced at the VA until today.

My medical issues have consumed me. I'm so scared of dying. The reason I am having an EKG is because of my fast heart rate and feeling like I am going to pass out. Nurse Porter was busy so she had another nurse walk me out. But when I got in the waiting room my face was tingling and I felt like I was going to pass out. I told the front desk person to get Nurse Porter. Nurse Porter came back and got me and took me back to the room. She hooked me up to the vital sign machine and took my vitals. I began to hyperventilate and Nurse Porter just kept calm and talked me through it. She had me deep breathing.

While trying to listen to her, I began to sweat, my face got tingly and I started to cry. All that going on Nurse Porter remained calm sat in front of me and helped me breathe. My body was doing everything it could to shut down. She even pulled out her cell phone and turned on the calm app to help me deep breaths and it helped. I wanted to nominate her for a DAISY because she took her time with me when coming to the VA. Nurse Porter did not see all my diagnoses, she saw me and she stayed with me in the room from 2:00 PM until 3:41 PM. That’s DAISY-worthy.