My life changed drastically two days before Christmas I woke up in a CAT scan machine at your facility and was told I had a possible stroke. A stroke at the age of 29! I was so scared, confused, and worried about my son who was 6 months at the time. The last thing I remembered was folding clothes in my living room. My nurse was Miriana and she was an angel during this time. She helped ease my anxiety by calling my family to make sure my son was ok and in safe hands. While I was in the cat scan machine my IV site was hurting and she put in another one and help ease my pain in my arm. She talked to all of my family who was waiting for me in my room when we got back. Miriana helped me take off my clothes and helped me feel not so ashamed that I had urinated on myself. She even stayed in my room when all of the doctors were talking to me and made sure everyone in my room understood the plan.
She truly amazed me when my mother broke down in tears on the floor and she sat with her on the floor gave her a big hug and told her everything was going to be alright, after that she was able to get my mother to sit in a chair and calmed down. My mother has worked at Orange Regional for several years and said that she has never met another nurse with the same compassion as her. She was even able to speak to my family from The Bronx helping them with directions to the hospital. She never once seemed annoyed. Then I found out that I had come to the hospital around 6:45 pm and the nurses change shift around that time, well my nurse never rushed us out she stood around to make sure I had and my family had what we needed. As she was leaving she introduced us to our night time nurse and made sure she said goodbye when she left. That left a lasting impression to me that she truly cared. I would like to nomination Ms. Figueroa for this award because she was a great nurse who made me feel like I truly was going to be ok during a horrible time in my life and so close to the holidays. I did not suffer a stroke but complex migraines and now I'm seeing a specialist monthly. Thank you Orange Regional for your fantastic team!