Assigned as my Day RN, Carol arrived with pep in her step and a smile on her face. It is always a challenge to provide care to a fellow RN, yet Carol dealt with it flawlessly. I advised Carol that I was not feeling well. I explained I thought some sort of infection was brewing. My temperatures are always low (96.5 is normal) so many RN's would have looked at a fever of 99.6F as nothing. Instead, she saw me, the patient, in distress and feeling afraid that an infection would set in and cause the need for my central venous port to be removed. Carol treated the whole patient: Me, my fears, and also my physical needs. She called the doctor and was successful in getting the necessary orders and carried them out all the while providing good care.

Carol managed to deal with each mini crisis in addition to caring for a complex multi-organ system involved patient. Carol also respected me both as a person as well as my skill level. Never once did she treat me with anything but the utmost respect. When I was weepy, she gave me Kleenex and helped me to redirect my energy towards getting well.

Carol knew that a sick patient may feel a serious loss of control over environment, sleep/wake cycle, time to bathe/get out of bed, etc. Wherever possible, she encouraged me to make as many decisions as I could. She also advised to keep the lines of communication open with my doctors/Care Team. She was already asking about discharge planning, even though that was several days away.

I see from Carol's name tag that she has already been nominated at least one time. I would like to see her name tag have a different pin. One with three daisies, instead of one.