I wanted to take a minute and acknowledge the exceptional nursing care I received from Sophie while I was here. She was my nurse for a 12-hour shift a couple of days post-op and she was amazing. She took the time to get me out of bed with multiple chest tubes, epidural, and a bunch of other tubes. She took the time to explain everything, never getting frustrated.
I think medical staff forgets sometimes that most of this is very new and scary to us. Chest tubes, IVs and CT scans and everything is new to us and having a nurse that doesn't get frustrated and will take a few minutes to explain things makes a huge difference.
The next day Sophie was not my nurse, but she was my roommate's nurse and she was in the room when the pulmonary surgeons rounded. They came in with no notice and said they were pulling my chest tube. My anxiety went through the roof. Sophie asked me if I was ok and she ended up sitting with me and holding my hand while they pulled the 1st tube. Even though I was not her patient and she probably had a million things to do she took the time to help me. It meant more to me than she will ever know and in my opinion, truly defines what nursing is all about.