In January, my mother was brought to Coral Springs Hospital by an ambulance, feeling weak after falling at home that morning while getting out of bed. On arrival to the Emergency Room, she was greeted by her nurse, Valerie. Valerie completed an assessment on my mother and observed the following symptoms: weak, confused, and my mother not able to move her left side. Valerie was very compassionate and acted quickly using her nursing skills. She suspected that my mother was having a stroke and proceeded to get the doctor into the room to see my mom. The nurse and doctor went into action and alerted the hospital there was a patient in the Emergency Room having a stroke and called a "brain attack". The entire team acted efficiently getting her blood work done and sent her off to the CT scanner within minutes. Upon my mother's return from CT scan, Valerie greeted her back to the Emergency Room in a cheerful friendly manner, got her on the monitor and sat with me and my mom explaining everything to us in full detail. She held my mother's hand and kept reassuring her.
The entire treatment team was great in helping us during this trying time of extreme duress. My mother, family, and I would like to commend Valerie in particular for being competent, professional, compassionate, caring, warm, and very helpful. (My mother's own words). Broward Health Coral Springs is very fortunate to have such a great healthcare professional working at their facility. As a retired physician, my mother feels that Valerie should be recognized for her hard work and dedication to patient care.