Tiffani was THE favorite nurse of our entire family! My husband D was admitted to ICU after suffering a heart attack that resulted in a ventricular septal rupture that required him to lie flat on his back for six days with an impella heart pump while his heart muscle hopefully became strong enough to hold a patch.  We knew the operation was risky, with a very high possibility of him not surviving. Each extra day St. Peter's staff got him through would hopefully improve his chances of a successful surgical outcome.  Tiffani was D's first daytime nurse, and she was so confident in everything she was doing.  She would come in at every alarm or each time we had a question about something they were doing and explain why an alarm sounded or why she was doing something to push or pull fluid or test his levels of heparin.  She was so great at calming our fears and those of my husband. 

My husband is a very neat and tidy guy, a guy who irons his undershirts, never a hair out of place.  After a night in the hospital, he felt gross.  She said do you want me to give you a shampoo?  He said how...I can't move.  She got him a shampoo cap, combed his hair, and then said we have these suction toothbrushes you can use while lying flat.  I have to tell you that made D feel 1000% better! I know that's not skilled nursing, but it's compassion and being able to connect and see what would make a patient feel even just a tad better.

One thing I noticed and appreciated was that Tiffani would always close the door or leave it slightly ajar. This limited a lot of commotion from the other critical care emergencies going on in neighboring rooms and allowed us to spend quality time with D.  D was conscious, unsedated, and very aware during this ICU stay.  Other nurses, he had left the door wide open with their medical cart in the way.  I felt like Tiffani really cared about keeping his environment calm and quiet with just that little gesture.

Tiffani was scheduled to be D's nurse on the 1st and 2nd day....then she said she volunteered to pick up an extra shift that 3rd day to provide continuity of care. Wow!!  We ARE so grateful for that.  On the 4th day, she had to take off but said she'd be back on Sunday, the day before his surgery.  Unfortunately, she was assigned to someone else on Sunday.  On Monday morning, the day of his surgery, Tiffani came in early and came right over to D, gave him a get-well card, grabbed his hand, leaned down, looked him right in the eye, and said, "I KNOW you are going to be good after this."  He had tears in his eyes.  My husband is the king of pep talks.  He told her she was a wonderful nurse and told her to keep pursuing her dreams and education. 

You are so lucky to have her on your staff, and we were blessed to have her help us through those toughest days.  Thank you, Tiffani!