Our unit recently had a patient who was admitted to the hospital for new onset of chest pain. This was a 78 year old female who was very healthy and had never been sick or hospitalized before. She was not familiar with anything medical and was very apprehensive from the start. The doctor wanted to perform a coronary arteriogram on her after reading her EKG. The patient was so overwhelmed by the thought of even being admitted, but to have an invasive procedure so suddenly had her very fearful. Vicki was her nurse on the day of admission and the day of the procedure. She took a lot of time with the patient; educating her to the best of her knowledge, advocating for her by calling the physician to come back to the unit to answer the patient's questions, easing her mind with compassion and concern, and most importantly letting her know that her uncertainty was heard, recognized and responded to.

Vicki and the patient became very attached to one another in the short amount of time they spent together. The patient became comfortable with her and expressed her comfort and resolve with having Vicki as her nurse. The patient ended up needing a 5 artery bypass surgery, with 3 vessels being > 90% occluded. Vicki spent a lot of time listening to the patient's fears of her upcoming surgery and helping ease her mind and prepare herself for the surgery and the recovery process. Vicki became so attached to the patient that she cried when they came from surgery to take her to pre op.

Vicki has been a nurse on our unit for a couple years now and started out with is as a nurse tech while in school. She has one of the kindest, loving and compassionate hearts of anyone I have ever met. She enters every day, every challenge and every complication with grace and poise. It never fails that our most complicated patients go to her and she usually always gets the highest acuity section because everyone knows she "can handle it." She does more than "handle it," she thrives and gives every single patient 100% of everything she has, gives amazingly competent care, and is genuinely kind, caring and compassionate. She would give one of us the shirt off her back gladly without hesitation. She truly invests in her patients' well being and does everything in her power to help them reach their goals.

She is 100% invested in our unit and each individual staff member. She is a shoulder to cry on, a laugh to infect us with, and a loving heart to shine God's light onto all those she comes in contact with. She is an Angel, called to this profession as a true ministry, and is with every ounce of her being an example of Memorial's Core Values. We are so lucky to have her as a co-worker, but more importantly as a friend!