I want to give special recognition to Yvonne, an outstanding nurse we had on 7B. My great grandmother was a patient on that floor. She had been admitted due to what we thought at first was a bad UTI. Once admitted and after some tests had been done we found out a good portion of her bladder was consumed with cancer, which explained the large amounts of blood she had been passing in her urine. Yvonne was her nurse for a couple days. The care and concern she provided was absolutely outstanding. She was attentive and so caring. She cared for my great grandmother as if she were her own family.

When my great grandmother was admitted to a bed from the ER, Yvonne was there at her bedside, she asked my great grandmother her name and how she was feeling and if there was anything she could do for her. She also inquired if there was anything she could do for us, and assured us that my great grandmother was in good hands.

A couple days later, Yvonne was in the hospital on her day off which happened to be the day my great grandma was scheduled for surgery to try to remove the cancer. When the surgeon started the surgery, her vitals began to drop and he realized the cancer was too far advanced to remove it; he could not continue. He explained that she wouldn't have long to live, and that the cancer would continue and she would continue passing blood until eventually she would pass on, not from the cancer, but from the loss of blood. For our family to hear that such a good woman would have to leave us in this way was hard. We were devastated.

A few hours later my great grandmother was transported back to her room. As we all waited in the waiting room to see her, Yvonne had recognized us from the previous nights she had cared for her and followed us into the waiting room. She spoke to my grandmother (my great grandma's daughter) and said that my great grandmother had been on her mind and that she wanted to see how she and her family were doing. My grandmother had been in tears after hearing the news from the surgeon. Yvonne asked what the news was and when we told her, she hugged my grandmother and said if she needed anything to please let her know, and that we and my great grandmother would be in her thoughts and prayers. She said my great grandmother was such a sweet woman that she couldn't stop thinking about her and had to check on her to see how she was doing.

I have worked with many nurses in my healthcare career, and have had many nurses take care of other family members and me, but I have never seen care and compassion like Yvonne has provided. She is a true example of everything a nurse should be. While all the nurses on 7B worked very hard to keep my great grandmother comfortable and are still providing outstanding care, Yvonne stood out by going above and beyond to see how a patient was doing. She didn't have to come in the waiting room that day and talk to us on her day off, she could have gone on about her day, but she didn't. Her actions reassured us and made us feel like my great grandmother and all of us were in good hands.