Valerie Cousins gave exceptional care and compassion to me and my family. My father was an inpatient on Valerie's unit for total knee replacement. Valerie was our nurse on several occasions during that time.
About a week into his stay, it was a very busy day on NT4. We were in the wheelchair ready to take my father home when my brother called stating the ambulance was bringing my mother in for a possible heart attack. When my mother arrived, she was in full cardiac arrest. She underwent a 7-hour surgery and unfortunately passed away approximately 24 hours later. During this time, my father was able to stay in the hospital for two additional days due to the circumstances. Valerie was our nurse that day. This was the day my mother unfortunately passed, Valerie was assigned a full load of patients for that day. As my mother was quickly deteriorating, Valerie treated us like we were her only patient for the day. She showed so much care and compassion. My father was able to travel to the 6th floor where my mother was rapidly declining. My dad got to see my mother and say his goodbyes before she died. Once again Valerie was there for us. This meant the world to my father and my family. After the passing, there were several emotional friends and family who were in and out of my father's room. Valerie was very accommodating to all of us and provided support to us during this emotional time. She was able to provide an area for us to congregate to grieve the passing of a special wife, mother, grandmother, and great grandmother.
My parents had been married for 61 years, they were soulmates. The passing of my mother was very hard on my dad. He not only lost his wife but was healing from a total knee replacement 5 days prior.
Valerie worked really hard to get my father discharged so we could get him home as soon as possible to heal and grieve the loss of his wife. She even assisted us to the door by pushing my father to the door in a wheelchair, helped us get him in the car and made sure we had everything we needed at that time. To me, this was going above and beyond, as usually, the volunteer staff does this. She arranged for other staff to take care of her other patients and was totally dedicated to my family.
I know the situation had to be hard for her too, but she kept her composure and was able to hold back the tears in order to take care of the needs for my father. We are grateful for all the exceptional care and compassion Valerie gave us that day.