Some people come to work because it's a job and others because it's a passion. Janet has a true passion for what she does and helped the patient and me move through his illness a little easier. The patient has an auto-immune disease, which is difficult to predict and understand. Janet tended to his symptoms while helping us cope with and understand what was happening. She was there in a way/role no one else could be and made all the difference. The patient is young and his disease has taken some things from him, including his hope at times. Janet saw this through his displayed resistance and sat down with him to talk about it with an empathetic, yet concerning ear. The affect she had on his outlook was amazing and that she was so in tune with her patient to pick up on it was even more amazing.
People think nursing is about medicine, and that part may be true, but it doesn't end there. Nursing is also about the patient, understanding where they are and helping them keep on fighting when they may have lost some of that "fight".
Thank you Janet, for helping the patient accept his illness and understand where and what we need to do from here. You gave us our hope back!