I am writing this from a relative’s point of view for the care and compassion shown to my mother and myself while on the Papplewick ward. My mother does not live in Nottingham; she lives in Mansfield and has recently had a few falls, resulting in admissions to our local hospital. On Thursday my mother had a further fall at home down the stairs. An ambulance arrived very quickly, and a cardiac trace showed she had possibly had a heart attack.

Mum was brought to the city hospital, where an angiogram was performed, which showed she indeed suffered a heart attack due to a major blockage. They were unable to insert a stent, so they elected to treat her with medicines, and she was admitted to the acute cardiac unit. Due to my mother's frail condition, it was decided that it was not in my mother’s interest to continue taking medicines, and so end-of-life care was initiated. The care and attention that both my mother and I received on this ward were excellent.

On Saturday, Mum was moved to Papplewick Ward to a side room to allow me to stay with her. Again, the care she has received on this ward has been excellent. All the staff deserve an award, but Lauren is the nurse who stands out from the rest.

When I first met Lauren, she greeted us with the biggest, warmest smile. She introduced herself and asked us both how we would like to be known. She has shown us so much kindness and empathy at such a difficult and stressful time. Nothing has been too much trouble. If Mum wanted to be left alone, Lauren did this but came back regularly to check to see if Mum remained comfortable or needed anything.

Lauren actually took time to get to know my mum, talking to her about her life, her job when she worked, her husband, and family holidays. This is so rare today as, speaking as a nursing sister myself, nurses are too busy with paperwork and caring for too many patients, etc., to do this. At times, my mum was confused and frightened, but Lauren took the time to comfort her and explain things to her without rushing her.

Lauren has also been there for me, a shoulder to cry on at low times. I am deaf, which in today's world is very challenging and sometimes becomes a problem as people become impatient with you and even avoid you. They can switch to a much slower form of speech and rubber lips, which makes it much more difficult to lip-read or even understand the person. Once Lauren knew I was deaf, she just continued to treat me like a normal hearing person, just ensuring she faced me so I could lip read. Thank you, Lauren, for this.

Lauren deserves recognition as she is a very caring and compassionate nurse with a big heart. She really does care for her patients and their relatives. Once again, thank you, Lauren.