Rona Esteban
May 2024
Rona
Esteban
,
RN
Critical Care - 6th Floor
St. Joseph Medical Center - Virginia Mason Franciscan Health
Tacoma
,
WA
United States
She is one of those nurses whose passion and positivity is contagious, and inspires others to achieve greatness.
Rona Esteban is a role model for compassion and relentless patient advocacy. She is one of those nurses whose passion and positivity is contagious, and inspires others to achieve greatness. When I first started at St. Joe’s, it was Rona who took me under her wing to teach me all that I needed to be successful. Even now on my own, she is a strong leader and constant source of encouragement and support to all who work with her. On one of my early shifts with Rona, I remember she had a patient that was on comfort care and would soon pass. The patient’s large family had gone through an absolute roller coaster of ups and downs since the patient was first admitted, and it was all now coming to an end. Rona was an incredible blessing to this family right when they needed it most! She surrounded this patient and their family with overwhelming love and grace. She turned a painful situation into comfort and closure under the protected safety of her presence and care. Rona has a beautiful spirit and generous soul in a world that could use a million more of her! I am blown away by her, and she is appreciated more than words can say.
***
We had a patient on the unit admitted for shortness of breath, he came up to the ICU very, very sick. It was a few days before he became lucid enough to have a concern about his dog. This patient is unhoused and lives in a motorhome with his dog. Being estranged from his family and with few friends there was no one to take care of his dear white terrier, and the patient thought his home would be towed and the dog taken to a shelter. Rona spent every spare moment of her shift trying to find this patient’s dog. She was on numerous phone calls between providing care for her two patients and attempting to locate the motorhome and dog. At the end of the shift she was successful and located the dog and motorhome which allowed the patient to go into his heart procedure knowing his beloved pet was safe with a friend and his home was where he left it. Rona is the type of nurse we all strive to be whether it is a critically ill patient or someone needing a comforting word, she is the one we all want taking care of us.
***
We had a patient on the unit admitted for shortness of breath, he came up to the ICU very, very sick. It was a few days before he became lucid enough to have a concern about his dog. This patient is unhoused and lives in a motorhome with his dog. Being estranged from his family and with few friends there was no one to take care of his dear white terrier, and the patient thought his home would be towed and the dog taken to a shelter. Rona spent every spare moment of her shift trying to find this patient’s dog. She was on numerous phone calls between providing care for her two patients and attempting to locate the motorhome and dog. At the end of the shift she was successful and located the dog and motorhome which allowed the patient to go into his heart procedure knowing his beloved pet was safe with a friend and his home was where he left it. Rona is the type of nurse we all strive to be whether it is a critically ill patient or someone needing a comforting word, she is the one we all want taking care of us.