My Dad was admitted to Baptist Health. In addition to having had a heart attack, his situation was further complicated by him having stage 4 renal failure, fluid on his lungs and hypertension. While all of the staff was great, one nurse was exemplary. Lupita quickly became our favorite nurse. She comforted my family during the many days my Dad was here. She did such an amazing job of caring for my Dad as he experienced irregular heart rhythm, heart block and fast and slow heart rates on a daily basis. Her ability to answer questions related to his situation in layman's terms was so helpful. Each time a doctor entered the room she made sure she was present. If later something became unclear she either explained what had been said or contacted the doctor for us. I so appreciated her speaking directly to my Dad and explaining each pill or injection she was giving him. She was also so willing to show and share lab results and x-rays with us. Her calm and friendly demeanor was so helpful and she also shared stories and had us laughing. In addition to caring for my Dad, she showed concern for my entire family. When my Mom received the news that life expectancy was likely a few days to a week, Lupita came into the waiting room to comfort my Mom. Lupita is one of the most compassionate people I have ever met and an advocate for her patients and their family.
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Lupita was very sweet, gentle and loving toward my Father. She made him and our entire family extremely comfortable. She was excellent in explaining what she was doing and in terms we could understand. She made us and my Father laugh. She was so attentive, down to putting Chap Stick on his lips. She possesses such a controlled soothing air in her personality that she should be the poster girl for nursing. We all felt so blessed to have her during this extremely difficult time. Please consider modeling your expectations of your entire nursing staff to her standards of compassion and care.
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My brother was admitted to Baptist Health. He was a patient on one unit for almost two weeks and had some of the best nurses. One that stood out in every way was Lupita.
Two days after abdominal surgery, on Thanksgiving Day, my brother was taken back to the OR for another surgery due to internal bleeding. Lupita was his nurse that day and prayed over my brother before he was rolled into surgery, which meant so much to my brother and our family.
My brother had a difficult time, to say the least, after that surgery on Thanksgiving Day. We were told he must have aspirated something while in recovery and he was unable to breathe correctly. He was intubated, appeared to be losing more blood, and his vital signs began to drop. It was a scary sight to look into my brother's room and see 9 nurses, two doctors and chaos ensuing. That was a long night.
The next morning, Lupita was back to begin her shift and immediately came into his room to check on him. Her calming personality was a welcome change in that room. We, as a family, had so many questions and Lupita was patient with us all while we took shifts staying with him around the clock. She spent time with each of us and always seemed to bring a sense of peace with her every visit. Several times I heard her say "We are doing all we can do, your brother is doing all he can do, and the rest is in God's hands". That reminder was exactly what I needed to hear.
Lupita got to know our entire, rather large, family during her shifts and really started to become more like a family friend. Even after my brother's health improved and was moved to another room, Lupita would visit to check on him. My brother is so appreciative for her thinking of him even after he was no longer her patient.