Lucia Keltner lives her entire life with HEART. I can’t recall even one time that she hasn’t gone the extra mile for our patients and their families. She is first to help with any problem that other staff may encounter and leads the way with community service. Her heartfelt influence and compassion is so long lasting with our patients that it still shines through after a year’s time.
We had a bypass patient admitted to room one. A nice Italian family was anxious and caring at his bedside with the transfer up to our unit. Everyone took time to interact with them and to explain process and answer their questions. They thanked us but were still somewhat ill at ease. The wife came out to the nurse’s station and asked, “Don’t you have a nurse by the name of Lucia here?” She gave it that beautiful Italian pronunciation Lu che ia. I asked if she meant Lucia? She said that a neighbor had the same kind of surgery as her husband and had been a patient on our floor. The neighbor had told her to be sure to ask for Lucia to take care of her husband. I asked why she was pointed out. The wife responded that her neighbor said that out of all the staff that took care of him, and they were all good, Lucia took care of him with her heart. She truly cared about and for him. He was safe with such an angel to care for him.
Lucia is always looking for better ways to relate and care for our patients. She has even taken a Russian class to be able to communicate with our Russian patients.