Nearly a year ago, I retired from the VA Health Care System as an employee. Over the years I worked in Primary Care, Specialty Care, and in the Specialty Call Center. As you can imagine, I worked with numerous nurses over the years. It wasn’t until I got hurt and became a patient, as I am a Veteran who needed help, that I realized how outstanding the RN for my Primary Care Team was.

At the end of September 2022, I took a bad fall and had a Traumatic Hip Fracture and a Compression fracture in my back. I was rushed to the hospital and the hospital administrators, and I notified my Care team and the Community Care of my injuries. Immediately, the RN, Mai Thanh Nguyen, stepped up and called me to let me know that if I needed anything, that I could call her, and she gave me a direct number to reach her if I had any needs or concerns. I appreciated that, as I called upon Mai numerous times and had questions for her about my care since my care was happening outside of the VA, she helped me navigate Community Care, was instrumental in helping me obtain Durable Medical Equipment, answered prescription questions and addressed my need for future physical therapy.

While I was in the Rehab Facility, I had a Urology problem and Mai immediately contacted the VA’s Urology department’s Nurse, and that RN contacted me and scheduled an appointment for me to be seen right away. I was impressed with the interdepartmental attention to the problem and it was because of Mai’s astute attention to detail that everything I needed was addressed and taken care of promptly. I am forever in debt to her for the kind caring demeanor she demonstrated while assisting me time and time again. Mai demonstrated all of the ICARE Values each time we interacted. Every time Mai helped me, I felt a sense of relief after hanging up the phone. As I said, I have worked with numerous RNs over the years, but I honestly feel that Mai should be recognized for her ability to take care of her patients and make them feel like they definitely have someone in their corner when it comes to the Primary Care team.