Paul DiFlauro
May 2014
Paul
DiFlauro
,
RN
5 East
Huntington Hospital
Pasadena
,
CA
United States
... My husband, has had a long, continuous hospitalization that began February 7, 2014 and continues today. My husband has been cared for in several units of the hospital during this hospitalization and several others over the past 10 years.
My Husband and I feel very fortunate that Paul was assigned to care for my husband several times during my husband's stay on 5 East. Paul possesses excellent nursing skills and medical knowledge. These skills, of course, are expected of Huntington's nurses, and we have encountered this level of expertise frequently.
What sets Paul apart is his extraordinary warmth, compassion and obvious devotion to caring for his patients and extends that to family members. Paul possesses an innate ability to recognize the unique needs of his patients and reacts in a manner that engenders confidence and trust. These attributes are what leads me to describe an incident that occurred on the night of February 21. Paul was off duty and reacted in an exemplary manner, swiftly and exactly as my husband requested of him, which is very important to my husband and which caused this incident to end in a positive outcome as possible given the circumstances.
My husband had a complication with an epidural catheter earlier in the week. At about 8 p.m. my husband felt numbness in his toes. Paul had been my husband's assigned nurse earlier that day but low census on the unit caused Paul to be reassigned in the afternoon. Paul, being the every caring nurse, about 8 p.m. was off duty and on his way to say goodnight to my husband.
My husband trusted Paul to do what was necessary and told Paul about the numbness. My husband asked him to contact me, then his internist, anesthesiologist and neurosurgeon. Paul did not waste a second. I received his call just as I walked in the door to my home. Paul then called Dr. K and asked Rowena (his assigned nurse for the night shift) to call Dr. H. Dr. K told Paul he would call Dr. R. By the time I returned to the hospital my husband could not feel his legs. By 9:30 p.m. my husband was in surgery, a very long and difficult surgery. Fortunately, my husband regained movement and feeling in his legs.
The next day when it was obvious my husband had regained movement and feeling in his legs, I visited 5 East to let Paul and many other very caring nurses know that my husband was going to be ok. Paul was visibly delighted to hear the news and visited my husband in the ICU later that day. Paul has taken the time of his brief breaks to follow my husband throughout the hospital and visit him.
I labeled Paul, our savior, that day. Without his quick and decisive actions, it is questionable whether my husband would have survived this ordeal at all. We are thankful and appreciative of Paul's efforts on February 21 and are pleased to nominate him for The DAISY Award.
My Husband and I feel very fortunate that Paul was assigned to care for my husband several times during my husband's stay on 5 East. Paul possesses excellent nursing skills and medical knowledge. These skills, of course, are expected of Huntington's nurses, and we have encountered this level of expertise frequently.
What sets Paul apart is his extraordinary warmth, compassion and obvious devotion to caring for his patients and extends that to family members. Paul possesses an innate ability to recognize the unique needs of his patients and reacts in a manner that engenders confidence and trust. These attributes are what leads me to describe an incident that occurred on the night of February 21. Paul was off duty and reacted in an exemplary manner, swiftly and exactly as my husband requested of him, which is very important to my husband and which caused this incident to end in a positive outcome as possible given the circumstances.
My husband had a complication with an epidural catheter earlier in the week. At about 8 p.m. my husband felt numbness in his toes. Paul had been my husband's assigned nurse earlier that day but low census on the unit caused Paul to be reassigned in the afternoon. Paul, being the every caring nurse, about 8 p.m. was off duty and on his way to say goodnight to my husband.
My husband trusted Paul to do what was necessary and told Paul about the numbness. My husband asked him to contact me, then his internist, anesthesiologist and neurosurgeon. Paul did not waste a second. I received his call just as I walked in the door to my home. Paul then called Dr. K and asked Rowena (his assigned nurse for the night shift) to call Dr. H. Dr. K told Paul he would call Dr. R. By the time I returned to the hospital my husband could not feel his legs. By 9:30 p.m. my husband was in surgery, a very long and difficult surgery. Fortunately, my husband regained movement and feeling in his legs.
The next day when it was obvious my husband had regained movement and feeling in his legs, I visited 5 East to let Paul and many other very caring nurses know that my husband was going to be ok. Paul was visibly delighted to hear the news and visited my husband in the ICU later that day. Paul has taken the time of his brief breaks to follow my husband throughout the hospital and visit him.
I labeled Paul, our savior, that day. Without his quick and decisive actions, it is questionable whether my husband would have survived this ordeal at all. We are thankful and appreciative of Paul's efforts on February 21 and are pleased to nominate him for The DAISY Award.