I was admitted to the hospital for a period of about 10 days. This was most unexpected and I was the sickest that I have ever been in my life. I truly was afraid at one point that I might not get better. My husband and I, who are both nurses here at IMH, have two small school-age children and no family in Wyoming so my being unavailable to help with managing our busy lives or work was a real stressor for both of us.
I had several wonderful nurses while I was in the hospital and have only great things to say about the care that I received while I was admitted, however, Val will forever stand out as one who holds a special place in my heart and truly exemplifies what nursing means.
One day, Val came into my room to perform her daily nursing tasks and then she just sat down in a chair at my bedside, looked me square in the eyes and asked me, "How are you doing?" My response was, "I'm doing ok." She then placed her hand on mine and said, "No, really how are YOU doing?" I knew then that she really wanted to know. How was this momma of two little kids with a busy life who HATES not being able to work and contribute to her family REALLY doing? At that moment, Val expressed more love and compassion to me as a patient than anyone has to me since all this madness started.
I have had many nurses over the past 5 years who have asked me how I am doing, but Val is the only one who took the time out of her day to sit at my bedside and connect with me on a very personal level and do a gut check with me to see how I was holding up. Not just the physical but the emotional. This is an uncomfortable place for many of us to put ourselves in. To open the door for a patient to begin to cry, scream, pour out their heart to us as strangers. But it is so very important in our profession to be willing to ask the tough questions. Sometimes all a patient needs is to vent to someone safe, someone outside of the family unit because they don't want to burden their loved ones with all the STUFF. Val made it possible for me to feel comfortable being completely honest with her. We can all do the "technical" aspects of our job but it takes a very special person, like Val, to be able to dig deeper and take on the "emotional" as well.
I cannot thank her enough for what she did that day. She was my nurse many times and she is phenomenal in every way and 100% exemplifies what a DAISY Nurse is and what we should all strive for in our profession.