I met Yasmin when a dear friend of mine was undergoing heart surgery. As his Power of Attorney and surrogate for his living will, I arrived to be briefed on his condition and to make sure once he was sedated and undergoing surgery, his wishes were respected and followed. I immediately observed how Yasmin interacted with him. I was impressed with her respectfulness and her demeanor was incredibly calming. He was upset that his surgery was supposed to be at 7:30 am and it was now 6 pm and there was no end in sight. When he was taken to the OR at 6:20 pm, I had a thousand questions as to what was about to occur and what was the expectation for care post-op.

Yasmin listened intently, made me feel as if my questions were important, and often prefaced her answers with a warming and thoughtful: "That's a really great question," and then gave a very intelligent answer. Her level of knowledge and expertise only further calmed my fears and I saw this same effect on my friend during the day. Yasmin transitioned off shift but not prior to introducing me personally to her relief nurse and making sure she knew of all my requests, desires, and concerns. I do not believe I have ever experienced this level of care from anyone, and I am not even the patient.

Complications with the heart surgery caused the intubation tube to need to remain overnight. The next morning when I arrived at 9 am I was greeted with a resounding "Hello" and I was so impressed that Yasmin took the time to remember patients' and family members' names. My friend still had his breathing tube in and several times during the morning, Yasmin would talk to him in a calm voice. I was amazed at her level of professionalism and degree of integrity as she worked so carefully and gently cleaning wound sites, and almost tip-toed while hanging new medications and working around a sedated patient.

Equally amazing is no less than 5 other registered nurses came to Yasmin seeking her opinion or issues. During my encounter with Yasmin, I watched her like an energizer bunny up and down the hall assisting other nurses, respiratory therapists, and the echocardiogram team member. She knew the exact procedure each was about to perform and assisted them as if she were part of the team.

Never saying "not my job,' it is obvious it is Yasmin's mission to provide the best possible care.
Yasmin is upbeat, polite, and a consummate professional. She is the picture of ethics. Her treatment of a patient when "no one" is watching is incredible. She talks with sedated patients in a caring and compassionate manner as if they are awake. She is gentle when cleaning a patient or changing a wound site. She calls patients and family by their names.

I only knew Yasmin for two days but having spent a lifetime in law enforcement I know good character. If Florence Nightingale was alive, I am confident she would have been Yasmin's mentor but not her role model. That position is filled by Yasmin's mother, who is also a nurse of thirty years. Yasmin speaks of her mom when she explains where she gets her drive and compassion from. As a father of six children myself, I hope one day Yasmin can show this award recommendation to her mother because it is the kind of thing parents live for -to learn their child is making a difference in the lives of their patients and patients’ families. Equally, it should be the type of thing administrators recognize. I am confident that Yasmin will succeed in any profession she desires to pursue. Because of her, if I or any member of my family become ill, I will take them to this hospital in the hopes of getting the type of care Yasmin provides. I hope one day, my daughter grows up to be like Yasmin.

She has a script tattoo on her forearm that says simply: "I love you" and it appears to be her mantra as that is exactly how she makes her patients, their families and obviously her coworkers feel.