Hannah Fogarty
July 2023
Hannah
Fogarty
,
RN
C7
Albany Medical Center
Albany
,
NY
United States
Her patient advocacy, friendly and calm demeanor, ability to anticipate needs, and forward-thinking made a huge difference to us.
Hannah is the night nurse who was assigned to our room on the night we first came in through the ER with an intestinal blockage. She made us feel so welcome. On our second night, my son was in pain and had so much nausea. We asked for more anti-nausea medication and she put a request in for us. In the meantime, before she received an answer from a doctor my son got sick on himself, the bed, the floor, his pillows. It was everywhere. She quickly prioritized what needed to happen. I’m not sure how she did it all in such a short period of time, but she got him anti-nausea meds so quickly, got him approved for an NG tube, and cleaned him and the room up. The entire time, we felt taken care of. Without asking, she got him a toothbrush and toothpaste, a box of tissues to blow his nose, and got him warm bath wipes so he could clean himself up. Then she put his blanket and clothes in the laundry for us.
She quickly got the NG tube ready. However, my son had a horrible experience with getting an NG tube the last time we were in the hospital, so he was a little reticent to do it this time, especially without drugs. Hannah encouraged him to try sipping water only and came up with a system for him to communicate to her he wanted to stop. I won’t say it was pleasant getting the NG tube in, but he did it. And she encouraged and praised him the whole time. Once the NG tube was in, she realized the suction was getting stuck because of debris in his stomach. She spent about an hour and a half using a syringe to get the debris out of his tube.
You may think this is all in a day’s work for a nurse, and maybe it is. But it’s not WHAT she did but HOW she did it. Her patient advocacy, friendly and calm demeanor, ability to anticipate needs, and forward-thinking made a huge difference to us. She never made us feel like we were bothering her. You can tell that for her, this job is a passion and not just a paycheck. It is shown in the way she greets us each night and in the way she advocates for and educates us about patient rights, the respectful and caring manner she treats us every day. A big thank you from the bottom of our hearts.
She quickly got the NG tube ready. However, my son had a horrible experience with getting an NG tube the last time we were in the hospital, so he was a little reticent to do it this time, especially without drugs. Hannah encouraged him to try sipping water only and came up with a system for him to communicate to her he wanted to stop. I won’t say it was pleasant getting the NG tube in, but he did it. And she encouraged and praised him the whole time. Once the NG tube was in, she realized the suction was getting stuck because of debris in his stomach. She spent about an hour and a half using a syringe to get the debris out of his tube.
You may think this is all in a day’s work for a nurse, and maybe it is. But it’s not WHAT she did but HOW she did it. Her patient advocacy, friendly and calm demeanor, ability to anticipate needs, and forward-thinking made a huge difference to us. She never made us feel like we were bothering her. You can tell that for her, this job is a passion and not just a paycheck. It is shown in the way she greets us each night and in the way she advocates for and educates us about patient rights, the respectful and caring manner she treats us every day. A big thank you from the bottom of our hearts.