I was admitted to Missouri Baptist from the ER and moved to the Medical Oncology Overflow. Shannon was my nurse during the day for two days. Prior to that all of my nurses, the entire staff actually, were very friendly and I felt like I was in good hands.
Enter Shannon. She really set the bar high from that point forward. I was obviously getting tired from what had become a very long week but instantly, I could tell her knowledge, skills, and confidence made me feel more comfortable. Within about 5 minutes of entering my room, she had updated information on my board that had not been filled in, added a "risk" band to my wrist that was outside on the door but not on me, and summarized with me everything she knew so far about why I was there.
Also, first thing, she asked if I wanted to take a shower (I most definitely did). She had the necessary items for that and my bed stripped in about another 5 minutes and I think that was the first time they had been changed since I was in my bed most of the time. She even got the water going in the shower (the first time, I blasted myself in the face and got all my clean dry stuff wet with cold water as soon as it turned on from the last person using it leaving it on the wand mode - laughable and sudden learning experience on my end there).
I just wanted to recognize her for her obvious skill, her take-charge efficiency, and doing all she could to keep me comfortable in what was becoming an increasingly painful and lengthy week. At the end of her shift on Friday night, she even brought in a "Happy Birthday" balloon and "cake in a cup: for me to make in hopes that I could have birthday cake on my birthday which was in a couple of days. She is an asset to Missouri Baptist Hospital to say the least.