My husband, D, was admitted to Baptist Hospital through the ER. He had experienced a tachycardia-induced cardiomyopathy. He went in with respiratory distress and quickly deteriorated in almost every area of his health. He was quite sick. He spent about 10 days in the ICU. He was intubated most of the time so he was unaware of the excellent care that he received most of the time, from all of the nurses but there was one special and very prominent nurse.
One who truly stepped in and took a leadership role in the continued care and continuity of my husband's healing. This nurse's name is William (Willie) Casas-Espinosa. He was our night nurse almost every night. I first met Willie when he came on duty his first night with my husband. We connected immediately. I asked him to tell me what I needed to be praying for in order to see my husband's progress to the next day. He gladly educated me and spent time encouraging me and my young adult sons. He went above and beyond not only to care for his patient's physical needs all through the night but he also took the time to teach me and my boys what was happening medically, what we could expect, what we needed to know, what the team of doctors was doing and so on. He really kept us in the loop and explained so much of the information to us that we didn't understand. This eliminated so much stress. This took the fear and anxiety out of the process of being hospitalized during such a traumatizing time for us. He was an exceptional professional who knew his area of expertise. He was also one of the biggest emotional support systems for us during that time. He treated us like family. He did so much more than just take care of D well. He was part teacher, part motivational speaker, and part therapist. And he was very dedicated. He rallied for D every evening and I am quite convinced that it was Willie's excellent care and push that helped D make the very necessary turn to progress in the right direction!
Once D was successfully extubated Willie recognized him as a person and not just a patient. He offered to shave him and clean him up before I came to visit. In a very special and unexpectedly sweet moment, on our 30 year anniversary, Willie asked D what our wedding song had been 30 years ago. When I walked into the ICU room that night Willie had D sitting up shaved, clean, handsome and had our wedding song playing from his phone. Willie met me at the glass door of D's ICU room and said, "you can come in and see your groom!" Can you imagine the overwhelming feelings of love and relief that I experienced that night? This was given to me by a stranger, a young man, who showed so much devotion and honor and respect to his patient and their family. What a gift.
I was truly blessed by this nurse. Willie is no longer a stranger but an integral part of our lives and we will never forget him. Willie helped D make the strides to improve and get out of the ICU. A few days later before we were to discharge, Willie went out of his way to come to another floor and say goodbye. I don't know how many patients ever take the opportunity to tell their nurses how important they are or how grateful they were for them. But we wanted to. We want Willie to know how thankful we are that he went into nursing, He could have chosen many different professions but he made the choice to give to others and serve with his skills. He is definitely one of the best nurses I've met. Willie gives the profession of nursing a good name. I have a deep respect for what he did and the passion that he brought to his work. He truly is a caregiver who cares and gives! I'll never underestimate the power of a nurse. Willie is amazing!