My husband had unexpected quadruple bypass surgery in August. Upon finding, during a heart cath test, that he had three major arteries 90% blocked, surgery was performed the next day. After 24 hours in the ICU he was moved to Quinn's wing. The first night he was in his new room, Quinn was there, smiling, positive, always available, very competent. She made sure that a cot was prepared for me to spend the night next to my husband. In the middle of the night, he had an episode of unstable vitals, oxygen problems, blood sugar spikes, and was in trouble. He was breathing rapidly and began hallucinating. Quinn was immediately on top of the situation. Since we had three doctors involved and Quinn needed to contact a doctor for orders, she asked me a surprising question. "Who knows him best?", she asked me of the three doctors. I immediately gave her the doctor's name and phone number and she proceeded to contact him while doing everything possible to stabilize him. I was impressed that she asked such an intelligent question to get doctor assessment and orders quickly.

Even more helpful was her response to my husband's hallucinations. Trying to get out of bed, he insisted that he had to "get up on that stage and perform!". He was adamant that it was time to be in the performance and was expected to go on next. I tried to calm him down, but Quinn began to go along with his very real anxiety. "You need to get a little stronger, before you get up on that stage", she said. He calmed down and said, "OK". But soon he was struggling again; "Let's go! It's time to get up there!". Quinn quietly began telling him the audience was not there yet and it was not quite time for his performance. I took her lead and together we kept him calm until he was stabilized and able to fall asleep.

Quinn is the kind of nurse everyone wishes they could have. She took time to listen to both patient and spouse, made sure our needs were met quickly, and made us feel that we were important to her. She even made my husband a heart pillow that said "Hug Me" with a black marker to help him cough. She was there three nights in a row, even missing an important family birthday party to come to work. Her spirit was caring and kind, everything an open heart surgery patient and family could hope for.

Thank you Quinn for going above and beyond to care for a frightened family experiencing a life threatening situation.