I recently had the privilege to witness the Mayo Mission in action, which fortifies my wife's 49 years of the Mayo example. I experienced commitment, compassion, and caring during a post-surgery event. Paula, on her weekend off, called, texted, and coordinated services for my extreme pain, swelling, and bruising from her home, which resulted in a diagnostic test for blood clots. She explained in terms I could understand while reassuring me that my caretaker was providing me with excellent and thorough advice and information. Such caring and empathy are above and beyond her job description.

Paula took her time to understand my circumstances and shared my feelings. She cared enough to spend free time on a weekend in order to comfort and care for my needs. We cannot thank her enough and will never forget her kindness.

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I have worked at Mayo for a number of years and am very proud to have witnessed the most important fundamental tool to be an expert at caring, compassion, and selfless nurse – Empathy. In this world of “rush”, Paula was calm (always), reassuring, compassionate, and listened with her heart. My husband had total knee surgery and developed severe swelling and pain. He was anxious, fearful when his leg turned colors and I as the caretaker was not the person he wanted to listen to. Paula never made me feel like she didn’t have time to care about what I was expressing as a caregiver. She was calm and reassuring and helped my husband by advising what was best and communicating with us multiple times on her days off. I am proud of all of the orthopedic staff that cared for us, but Paula Dammon pulled all of the Mayo Mission qualities to one family – mine – Thank you so very much, Paula.