My mother, an 83-year-old, was feeling terrible all day with high blood pressure. I was also watching my 85-year-old father in our home that we share together. I had to take my 100 percent fully disabled due to service - father to the Veteran's Hospital and admit him for PTSD, Anxiety, and Suicidal thoughts. My mother was unable to cope with all the stress and she was disoriented. I took her in the late afternoon to the emergency unit at Nellis AFB.

Thankfully Erik was there with his wisdom of the aged to take her into the emergency area sooner than the younger folks waiting in the lobby. He immediately made us feel much less anxious because we just knew we were in experienced and capable/skilled hands. He was so kind and full of compassion for my mother. He lifted her small body out of the wheelchair ever so gently and carried her to the exam table. He took her blood pressure and immediately had an IV put in to give her a solution as a preventive measure against a stroke. He did this stealthily so as to not create more distress for my mother. He was so upbeat and we both commented to each other what an exceptional emergency room nurse he was.

There was an entire team working and helping him and he said please and thank you to each member of the team as he directed them to each task at hand. Everyone was quick and efficient and it all ran so smoothly. The other team members you could tell truly looked up to him with respect and he is definitely a mentor to all. He explained to them the why of doing what he was asking them to do; teaching as he went along. He loved his work, we could tell. My mother was there for quite a while, about six hours or so and she had cat scans and X-rays because several days earlier she had fallen backward down an escalator at the Minneapolis airport and was also in severe pain in her back, hip, and head from the fall. The doctor in charge came in and ordered the tests and looked at my mom but it was Erik that impressed us the most. He came back often to evaluate my mother. It was his knowledge, his personality, his decorum, his style, his wit, his humor, and his ability to calm and treat my mother with the best care he could provide that just left us gobsmacked.

It is indeed extremely rare to be cared for by an emergency nurse with so many wonderful skills and qualities all in one unique package: Erik. He helped my mom to the car in the wheelchair and helped her into the car and bundled her up because it was freezing cold outside. We knew Erik went beyond his call of duty when he said he wanted to take my mother to the car to the orderly. He wanted to make sure she got into the car safely and he told my mother she was his patient and there was no way he was not going to get her into the car himself safely and say goodbye. We wished we could have taken Erik home with us.

Erik is certainly an extraordinary nurse with the best clinical skills, caring, and compassion. My mother is herself a nurse and I have been caring for her for ten years along with my father. We have been to many hospitals, emergency rooms, and care units throughout the world and without any doubt, Erik was the Best nurse we ever encountered. How lucky was my mom to have him care for her in her hours of need!