Recently my mother was admitted to the hospital with two broken ankles and I spent 4 days by her bedside while we all learned to transition to her new way of life. It was a pretty stressful time for my family and given my mother's circumstance - it was extremely difficult at times but there was one particular nurse, Valerie Firl, who truly helped guide us through an unfortunate time. Her kindness and understanding during this situation were evident, both to my sister and me. As we dealt with many nurses during my mother's stay, Valerie is the only nurse who truly listened to our concerns and helped facilitate her discharge. While also showing genuine compassion for our circumstances.

I truly believe without Valerie's professionalism and care for what she does (and our situation), we'd still be dealing with my mother in NJ hospital. With nurses in my family, I understand the everyday exhaustion they have to deal with but Valerie, not one single time, showed any signs of distress and in fact, really was a shoulder to lean on for me and my sister. I would nominate Valerie a 100 times if I could - she is a nurse who not only deserves recognition but is also a DAISY Nurse for her above and beyond care that she gives every patient and their family. She made an unfortunate circumstance a little easier to deal with when you have people on your side who care.