We are incredibly grateful that Mary Jo was the nurse assigned to our father, who was admitted to the ICU with a diagnosis of sepsis and aspiration pneumonia. Twenty-four hours after admission, he suffered respiratory distress while Mary Jo was present in the room. She quickly assessed the situation and immediately took charge, calling for back-up, calming him down, and contacting the family to come to the hospital.
Upon our arrival, Mary Jo thoroughly explained what had occurred, talking to us in layman's terms. Not only did she provide outstanding care to our father, she took great care of our entire family as well, leading us step by step through our anguish of having to make the tough decisions. She prayed with us over our father as he became combative and had to be intubated, and she stayed later than her 12-hour shift to ensure the nurse taking over his care had all the important information.
Mary Jo connected with our entire family. We trusted her and she provided strong emotional support for us during this difficult period of time. Her positive attitude in encouraging us to stay hopeful yet to think ahead if our father took a turn for the worse, demonstrated her dedication and loyalty to both her patients and their families.
First and foremost in Mary Jo's heart and mind was the care she provided to our father and our family. Respect, compassion, spirituality, trustworthiness, excellence, and professionalism are all core values of Hays Medical Center. These values were shown each and every day by Mary Jo in the care that she provided to our father. We will be forever grateful for Mary Jo!