My husband, D, was admitted to this hospital after being airlifted from Trenton Beaumont Hospital with a ruptured brain aneurysm. Obviously, this was a terrible life-stopping shock since D, only 45 years old, father of our three teenage boys, and my husband of 21 years was otherwise a strong and healthy man. Thankfully and miraculously he was able to survive long enough for the fantastic ICU and neurology teams to treat and stabilize him. The next four weeks in the ICU were full of obstacles and challenges that as his wife were hard to understand, hard to not fear the worst, and hard to trust that the very best was being done for him at all times. Fortunately, those fears were comforted not only by my strong faith that God was in control but that he was indeed getting the very best care from every Doctor, nurse, and hospital staff.

One nurse in particular in the ICU, Esther Ferraz, I will always be indebted to for her commitment, compassion, nursing skill, work ethic, and overall morale in relation to patient care and humanity. While being by my husband's bedside I was able to gain the perspective of great nurses like her that I would have never been able to appreciate otherwise. Esther gained my trust immediately during her initial assessment of D. Her close attention to detail with him and the time she took to research his case while gathering information from us showed me her dedication to doing her job well.

Over the course of those four weeks, I learned what a high-paced work life this staff must manage, and each time I was blessed enough to have her as D's nurse she always was there meeting his very complex doctor's orders while making sure he and I were comfortable. I knew she was caring for other patients the same way but she had a way of making us feel like we were her first priority. Esther was also a strong voice in advocacy for him which I appreciated so much when it came to the many doctors managing his care and needing to know the things only a nurse whose ability to analyze, assess, and problem-solve would make a difference in how they needed to proceed with some of his treatment. There was not a task too beneath her and there was not a task or question she would not go beyond her means to reach for us as well. This is the true meaning of a "team player" and one of the reasons the quality of, in this case, my husband's life was increased.

Not only were her contributions to the big things the reason I will always be grateful but it was also in the little things. For example on a day when D has started to become more self-aware (a great sign of his neurological progress), he made a comment that he did not think he smelled very nice. Esther took the time to wash his hair and help me trim his overgrown beard because as confused as he still was with his brain injury she did not want him to think he smelled bad. This was so touching because it made such a difference in his comfort which also helped comfort me during a time when there were so many reasons not to have peace of mind or rest and she understood that.

Please help me recognize this wonderful nurse so that she knows how important she is to her patients, their families, her coworkers, and to this wonderful hospital! Also thank you so much for allowing patients or family to have a way to recognize these sometimes unseen heroes!