May 2022
Audreya
Williams
,
BSN, RN
4 Ross
The Ohio State Wexner Medical Center Ross Heart Hospital
Columbus
,
OH
United States
Audreya showed my family what providing dignity in death really meant, and our experience was so seamless because of her unwavering compassion and obvious love for others.
Audreya cared for my aunt for multiple nights preceding her death. When my family made the decision to withdraw care, she provided more support to my family than we could have ever expected, and we will all be forever grateful that it was her that helped guide us through that difficult time. She would spend countless minutes with my family members on the phone in the evenings providing us with updates and reassuring us that our decision was the right one to make. She continuously educated us on my aunt’s condition and talked to us like we were human beings. She always made sure that we understood what was going on, no matter how complicated. Also, Audreya was the nurse that cared for her the night before she passed away. When my family arrived to say our goodbyes, my aunt’s hair had been washed and braided, (and I know this had to take hours, as it was matted and blood stained from her weeping central lines) all of her dressings had been changed and looked perfect, she had been bathed and lotioned, and her nails had been painted. She honestly looked more like herself than she had in a really long time. Audreya showed my family what providing dignity in death really meant, and our experience was so seamless because of her unwavering compassion and obvious love for others. I too, work in the medical field and I just don’t believe that they make nurses like that anymore, and she deserves to be recognized. We will never forget her.