My husband, D, is an ALS patient. We went to the ER on Wednesday morning to check out some troubling symptoms he was having. It was determined that he had aspiration pneumonia. Since he has no use of his hands and arms, they allowed me to stay with him in a private room. We were moved upstairs and met our nurse, Jackie. Jackie was joyful, and reassuring all at the same time. D has never in his life stayed in a hospital and he was very anxious about it. Jackie reassured him in a way that didn't make him feel embarrassed. She talked to him about his favorite subject, the love of Jesus. On the first night, he had quite a bit of trouble sleeping in the bed, due to the breathing difficulty. The doctors had a cardiac chair brought in, but it was even more uncomfortable, Jackie found a recliner and had it moved into our room it was a GOD send to have something comfortable for him. On Thursday, he developed episodes where he couldn't breathe and had to be physically sat up and his head lifted to clear his airway. We were very concerned about how we would be able to make it through the night and be alerted to these episodes.
Jackie and the doctors came up with a plan to put a pulse/ox monitor on him and set it to alarm each time his rate elevated indicating he was having trouble. My daughter and I were able to cat nap in between alarms and still able to help him throughout the night with the episodes. Before Jackie left on Thursday, she told D that he was going to be alright that night and it brought great comfort to him. On Friday his heart went into Atrial Fibrillation and he had to be moved to MICU, Jackie was vital in helping us coordinate getting D down there and getting his stuff together, all the while letting us know what would happen next and telling D that she would see him on Monday. Unfortunately, D passed away on Saturday. I feel Jackie was our angel on earth and is a true DAISY Nurse.
Integrity: The minute we met Jackie, we knew she loved her job and would do anything we needed.
Commitment: When we needed a special chair for comfort, Jackie didn't stop until she found the exact one, and that took 3 different tries!
Advocacy: Jackie constantly checked on how we were emotionally and what she could do to help us. She would help us to understand what the doctors were saying and she even offered suggestions based on what she was seeing.
Respect: Jackie was very respectful of D and always asked what he preferred and offered suggestions while still letting him know he was in charge and she was there to do whatever he wanted.
Excellence: As D got worse and complications set in, Jackie was our port in the storm. She helped us understand what was going on and she helped relay to the doctors the things we were seeing and feeling that we couldn't put into words.
Jackie caught D's A-fib before anyone else did and when the doctors thought it might be a malfunction of equipment it was Jackie who kept with it and through monitoring it, helped them to realize it was not the equipment. Jackie is truly an asset to the VA and to my family she will always be remembered as an Extraordinary Nurse.