My husband has been a patient on 3WH since his transfer from Neuro ICU. You need to know something about his background in order to understand the circumstances in which he finds himself. He is well educated, nuclear physicist who participated in the aerospace program in the 1960’s. He is cultured, intelligent gentleman who has had the misfortune to have been born with a weak aortic valve. He had it replaced at UWMC 12 years ago and more recently he had another AVR through a non-traditional surgical approach. He subsequently suffered a stroke which left both arms and hands impaired. He underwent 3 weeks of inpatient rehab at UWMC and was progressing well when he had a serious fall and fractured his C-1 and C-2 which required emergency transport to and surgery at HMC. Since then, he has also developed “Sundowners Syndrome” and at times is confused and irrational. He has been through 2 major surgeries now and a short time span of 2 months and has spent almost 2 months between 2 hospitals. He is 79 years old.
Pamela Pule took loving care of my husband who has presented to her with quite a challenge. She never lost her patience with him and she made every effort to preserve his dignity and self-respect as a human being. She treated my husband as a beloved family member rather than a sometimes difficult, eccentric patient. Her dedication to him and my family was outstanding and compassionate.
Above you will find a letter from a grateful patient given one of many examples of Pamela’s dedication to excellence in patient care. Pamela is the best possible combination of knowledge and compassion. When a hospitalized patient was going to leave AMA, Pamela brought food and litter and as the patient lived close went to feed his cat. Pamela also uses her knowledge to carefully assess the medications and treatments for every patient. After a recent intervention she prevented a patient from being double dosed with anticoagulation RX. Pamela sees the unique need of each individual patient, making a personal connection and advocating for her patients.