Shirley Barela
March 2018
Shirley
Barela
,
RN, BSN, CCRN
ICU
Community Memorial Hospital
Ventura
,
CA
United States
I had an out-patient procedure done yesterday. I was sent to the Coronary ICU for recovery as the regular recovery was full. Shirley was my nurse in there and I can say she was by far the most compassionate, hard-working, and professional nurses that I have ever had. I had a very difficult recovery as the pain and sedation medications they had given me during the procedure had made me extremely nauseated. She was always right there and would check on me constantly. At one point she needed to go on break and had another nurse watch me. I heard her relate everything to the new nurse, every little detail about my procedure, and everything that was bothering me, including that my back from the position that I was in during my procedure.
When I was finally going to be released she helped me up, to which I began throwing up pretty heavily. She rubbed my back, held my hair for me, got me a cool washcloth for my head and neck, and helped me get back into bed after my blood pressure dropped. Which it did every time I threw up. I stayed a little longer, and she made sure my parents were comfortable, as well. I was about to go home again, and used the restroom, to which I had a heavy amount of blood in my urine. She again helped me back into bed and made every effort to get a hold of my surgeon, and quickly. She also took the time to get me a "care pack" for the ride home with an extra throw-up bag and cool paper towels, all of which I ended up needing. She was fast, communicative, caring, and had a real genuine concern for her patients. I was close enough to see that she put that same amount of effort into her other patients and was an excellent communicator with other staff.
What really topped off my incredibly positive impression of her, was that in the evening after I had finally gone home, she called me personally to check on me and see how I was feeling. I have had a lot of great nurses, but Shirley by far is the most amazing nurse I have ever encountered. I feel so lucky that the Recovery was full and I was sent up to her! Although my recovery was miserable, she made it so much better, and I think it would have been 10 times worse without her. She is the kind of nurse that every patient dreams about having for their care.
When I was finally going to be released she helped me up, to which I began throwing up pretty heavily. She rubbed my back, held my hair for me, got me a cool washcloth for my head and neck, and helped me get back into bed after my blood pressure dropped. Which it did every time I threw up. I stayed a little longer, and she made sure my parents were comfortable, as well. I was about to go home again, and used the restroom, to which I had a heavy amount of blood in my urine. She again helped me back into bed and made every effort to get a hold of my surgeon, and quickly. She also took the time to get me a "care pack" for the ride home with an extra throw-up bag and cool paper towels, all of which I ended up needing. She was fast, communicative, caring, and had a real genuine concern for her patients. I was close enough to see that she put that same amount of effort into her other patients and was an excellent communicator with other staff.
What really topped off my incredibly positive impression of her, was that in the evening after I had finally gone home, she called me personally to check on me and see how I was feeling. I have had a lot of great nurses, but Shirley by far is the most amazing nurse I have ever encountered. I feel so lucky that the Recovery was full and I was sent up to her! Although my recovery was miserable, she made it so much better, and I think it would have been 10 times worse without her. She is the kind of nurse that every patient dreams about having for their care.