Debra Dudas
January 2018
Debra
Dudas
,
RN
ICU
Glens Falls Hospital
Glens Falls
,
NY
United States

 

 

 

I need to acknowledge members of your extraordinary staff who supported my mother and me along a one-way journey in the crisis, critical care management, and dying process of my mother. I am a nurse and to be on the other side of this role, helped me to see the value of the work all of us do, but more importantly the humanity and compassion that is not learned, but unique to each nurse. There are some nurses who do more than their job description.
I met Ashley and asked her endless, consecutive questions and she answered all of them with pause, while being kind and gentle to me. Her level of competency was exemplary and her ability to answer every question I presented impressed me. She cared for me and my mom, as well as my daughter and son-in-law for two evenings.
At shift change brought the final stage of comfort care. Debra was starting her shift meeting with us all for the first time while coordinating the discontinuation of the vent and walking into a room full of crying family members. Her compassionate care and thoughtfulness reaffirmed how important our work is. Her care during my mother's end of life process was thoughtful, compassionate and kind. Her care after she died was equally thoughtful and enabled my aunt to see her sister in a beautiful way. Thank you, Ashley and Debra, for all that you did for my mom and our family.