In the nomination, one of Vrooman's patients shared that when she thanked her anesthesiologist (whose name was Robert) after he placed her epidural, he kiddingly said she could give the baby "Roberta" as a middle name. As it turned out, that was the patient's mother's name and was, indeed, the middle name she and her husband had chosen for the baby.
"I did not tell Kelly my mom had recently passed, but she must have read it in my chart because she came back a while later and very eloquently said she thought it was a sign from my mom," the patient said. "Another nurse may have overlooked the conversation with the anesthesiologist, not taken the time to do her research on me, and not taken the time to make me feel my mom was with me during the birth of my daughter. But Kelly did all these things, which I will remember for the rest of my life. There is a saying, 'People will forget what you said, but remember how you made them feel.' I will never forget what Kelly said, nor how she made me feel."