To fully understand the appreciation, I have to start with a back story. My father struggles with addiction. As you can imagine this has been a real challenge for family dynamics. He has been trying to be clean from drugs by using suboxone that he buys from the street. Prior to this hospitalization, I hadn't seen my father in 12 years due to this. He would reach out and text or call on occasion but that was the extent of it. He was embarrassed that he let drugs "rule his life."
Fast forward to this hospital stay. My dad was the caretaker of my grandmother as she passed away. She passed away the day before he sought out medical care for his own illness. He started this medical treatment at another Maine hospital where he was diagnosed with Sepsis due to pneumonia and ultimately transferred to Maine Medical Center's SCU 2 unit. During his stay at the ER, he wasn't treated in the best of ways. They didn't come in and check on him, didn't answer questions and did not update him or the family on his plan of care. I was in San Diego on business and had to call and complain to get them to go in and update my family so they could then update me. (I know you are thinking this isn't relevant to why I am taking the time to fill out this award but bear with me it is). We believe that this care was less than ideal due to the addiction diagnosis being in his chart. He was anxious, nervous and scared of what was going on with him and profoundly depressed over the loss of my grandmother. They only made these feelings worse by being neglectful in their care/compassion.
When we found out he was going to be transferred to Maine Medical Center. I was incredibly nervous and worried that he would get the same treatment that he received at the other hospital so I called to talk to his nurse. At the time of the call, he had just gotten to the unit so they were not able to connect me but the nurse who answered the phone was incredible. She told me she was just in helping him settle and gave me an update on how he was doing. I explained to her about his addiction, his worries and asked if they could ensure case management be involved in his discharge planning. She assured me she would let his nurse know and they would take good care of him. The best part of this was I fully believed her. I was across the country, helpless and I felt 100% at ease that he was in good hands.
I flew home the next day and was able to go in to see him on the day of his discharge. This is when I had the privilege of meeting one of the professions finest nurses. This angel of a woman was named Nancy. When I first got there she came in and updated me and my sister on the plan. He was being discharged but she wanted to make sure everything was set before he left. While waiting, dad filled me in on how wonderful she and the other staff were. He told me that she was very kind and caring and made him feel good. She talked to him and treated him like a human being instead of an "addict." She then went above and beyond to make sure he was all set. She followed up to make sure he was going to be able to get into an outpatient treatment program and followed up to make sure his mainecare application was going to be processed. He didn't have insurance so she was able to work out an arrangement so he could have his prescriptions filled prior to leaving the hospital so he could get better. She noticed he hadn't eaten much over the weekend and he had mentioned that he doesn't eat more than one meal a day and just drinks Boosts. She then called down to the kitchen, got him a Boost drink not only for then but a couple to send home with him. Her love and compassion shined through everything she did. She treated him with kindness and dignity. As a result of this, my sister and I got our dad back. We hadn't seen him for 12 years prior to this hospitalization. He came to Easter dinner and we have further plans to get together and reconnect. I truly believe that Nancy is a Godsend and an asset to the nursing profession and a true DAISY Nurse.