I want to thank our nurse Chelsea Ruddick from the 3rd-floor unit. My husband was admitted to the 3rd floor for care. He is an end-stage renal disease patient, and right away, I was greeted not only by a wonderful, amazing charge nurse but the next day by Chelsea, our "angel" that watched over his care for 14 days. She was amazing. During the first 5-6 days, my husband was not in a great state of mind, but she worked just as hard as I did to ensure he received all the proper care he needed. She explained everything that they were doing, not only to me but to him, even though we were not sure if he understood everything at the time. She would call me every morning with updates and changes and make me aware of anything that needed to be done to him and made sure she had consent to proceed before she did anything. She found all the right people to answer my questions and searched for the answers I needed. She supported me as his wife/caregiver/patient advocate when it seemed no one else heard my voice and tried pushing me into decisions without discussion. But Chelsea heard us and understood. I was his advocate, and as he looked at me with his eyes and said, "Babe, you got my back," I could say with confidence yes, I do because I had a wonderful nurse who made sure I had and knew what I needed to care for him. She took me down with him when he had a biopsy, even when I was persistent because I could not get them to show me the x-ray and what they were doing. She stood behind me until the answer was shown to me. She understood that we were there due to an error and that my trust level was at ground zero and had to be rebuilt again. She did not frown or seem irritated when I questioned every move that was being done. She did the little things like writing on the board: "Call spouse with any changes" and "Loves ice chips." It may seem small to others, but it was huge in our eyes. She made sure that I received the information I needed to make the right decisions in my husband's care when he needed certain procedures or tests to be done. Certain nurses would demand a specimen, and my husband would try to explain he would get them one when he can. Chelsea would take these nurses aside and explain that he knows his body and will give you your specimen when he can, not necessarily when you want. She checked in on him every day, asking if there was anything she could do for him and saying goodbye at the end of her shift. She stayed over one day when the hospitalist was going over the procedure my husband needed to be there for reassurance, keeping him calm till I got there, just being that calming presence that he needed so much. On departure day, she was there and stayed with us till we left, explaining our next steps and that if there were any questions or if we needed anything to please reach out. My husband was very grateful to her, and kept saying, "thank you for all you did."  I also couldn't thank Chelsea enough, and her reply was, "I was glad I could be here for you". This story does not even come close to doing her justice for all the care and understanding she gave during our stay. She truly is such a humble, amazing, genuine, and caring person. Chelsea is a rare gem of light in a sea of darkness.

Note: This is Chelsea's second DAISY Award!