When coming into the hospital knowing I only had a year to live I was terrified and broken. When I got to the ICU I was met by a man who treated me with warm compassion and empathy. Preston was different, he actually listened to what I had to say and made me feel like the most important person in the world. He explained everything so clearly but what really stood out was that this man loved his job. Preston always would respond with “It’s my pleasure” when thanked. It didn’t matter if he was busy or not he would always come to check on me and when he asked if I was ok, he genuinely meant it.

When looking into this man’s eyes, you see that he’s been through some stuff. When coming into the hospital I had given up, my cancer had won. That’s until Preston restored my faith in myself and the world. When hearing about why Preston is a nurse it’s clear why he’s so good at it. His tragedy brought this world a one-of-a-kind nurse, a true angel, and a gift to humanity. I without a doubt can say I will never have a nurse that’s this good ever again. Every hospital in the nation should take lessons from him on how to be compassionate, and empathetic, and how to take someone with no hope and get them to live their best life with the time they have.

You can’t begin to know what an asset Preston is to your organization. Preston is making a difference in lives and healthcare, he likely is too humble to know that. I’ll end this with something he told me, “most are dealing with burnout right now, not me. Why? Because I took a vow to you as a patient, and not doing my best would mean I'm failing you. I can’t let my emotions and exhaustion interfere with your care because you deserve the world's best care. Compassion is my job, care is my job. If I don’t give my all, I’ve failed you. I'm not ok with failing you, failure isn’t part of my job.”