May 2020
Chongyang
Li
,
BSN, RN
Orthopedics
Rush University Medical Center
Chicago
,
IL
United States
I was a patient in the ICU for an entire week following my complex back surgery. My surgery took place on a Monday, and my recollection was of the following Thursday evening.
Following my surgery, I was pretty immobile for the first several days that I spent in ICU. I needed a nurse's help to do just about everything - go to the bathroom or get to any of my personal things from my bags (and I hardly had any of the items out that I had brought with me).
One day earlier a couple of other women attendants were in my room, and one of them took notice that my hair had become matted since it had not been brushed or combed in three days (I had become aware of not only the matting but also that it had become extremely oily). This woman would have helped, but these two were on another assignment and did not have the time to assist me.
So on that Thursday evening, the end of my fourth day in the hospital, Sunny was my nurse and we were discussing my overall care. I made mention to her that no one had yet offered to help me with washing my hair or to at least groom it to remove the matted areas. Sunny told me that she would be more than happy to help me do that, and later she took several minutes to help me get to the bathroom where she washed and conditioned my hair for the first time during my stay.
She was very pleasant and informative during her interactions with me, which showed me that she cared about me as a person and not just as a patient. Helping me with my hair is such a small undertaking, hardly taking 10 minutes, but it helped significantly to improve my general outlook and overall feeling of well-being.
While all of the Rush employees I came into contact with and who cared for me were truly impressive, this nurse made a big impact on me as I recovered. I hope you will also recognize the excellence in her nursing through the way she attended to me. With sincere gratitude for the excellent care I received at Rush.
Following my surgery, I was pretty immobile for the first several days that I spent in ICU. I needed a nurse's help to do just about everything - go to the bathroom or get to any of my personal things from my bags (and I hardly had any of the items out that I had brought with me).
One day earlier a couple of other women attendants were in my room, and one of them took notice that my hair had become matted since it had not been brushed or combed in three days (I had become aware of not only the matting but also that it had become extremely oily). This woman would have helped, but these two were on another assignment and did not have the time to assist me.
So on that Thursday evening, the end of my fourth day in the hospital, Sunny was my nurse and we were discussing my overall care. I made mention to her that no one had yet offered to help me with washing my hair or to at least groom it to remove the matted areas. Sunny told me that she would be more than happy to help me do that, and later she took several minutes to help me get to the bathroom where she washed and conditioned my hair for the first time during my stay.
She was very pleasant and informative during her interactions with me, which showed me that she cared about me as a person and not just as a patient. Helping me with my hair is such a small undertaking, hardly taking 10 minutes, but it helped significantly to improve my general outlook and overall feeling of well-being.
While all of the Rush employees I came into contact with and who cared for me were truly impressive, this nurse made a big impact on me as I recovered. I hope you will also recognize the excellence in her nursing through the way she attended to me. With sincere gratitude for the excellent care I received at Rush.