Stephanie took care of my mother for 4 of the 8 nights that she was in MICU. My mother was a sick lady, but always maintained her spunkiness. Each night that she was here, my mom would say, "that Stephanie is sneaky, she comes in for one thing and does 5 other things." As nurses, we know this is called clustering care, but my mom would light up when Stephanie walked in the room.
My mother gave Stephanie (jokingly) a hard time and every time, Stephanie came back with a spunky comment, which kept my mother so entertained. Even when we were deciding to take my mother home on hospice, Stephanie was able to joke and play with her to keep her spirits high.
Every nurse in the MICU did an amazing job with the care of my mom but Stephanie stood out. 1 1/2 months after my mom passed, Stephanie gave me a card that is my most prized possession right now. It is a card that tells me about the sleepless nights my mom would have in the unit and what her and Stephanie would talk about. It described things that my mom never had a chance to tell me. This card was but a small gesture, but means the absoluteworld to me and it will be with me for the rest of my life. By telling me the stories my mom would tell her, this gave me so much comfort. Stephanie is an amazing nurse, but the care for my mom and for me has shown that she has gone above and beyond to be compassionate to a level that most wish to achieve.