Stephanie cared for me in the infusion clinic at UCSF and was one of the loveliest nurses I’ve ever met. I received a major life-alternating autoimmune diagnosis about one year ago and recently started to be followed by UCSF. I was receiving my second infusion ever at the center and was feeling so nervous about some pre-infusion medications that I had received during my first infusion that I had a horrible reaction to. Stephanie took the time to ask about an alternate route of administration for the med, and it worked SO much better for me and changed my entire experience. She made me feel like more than just a patient surrounded by the continuous flow of nurses responding to beeping med pumps because she took the time to ask me about my diagnosis and symptoms and made me feel like a human instead of just a patient.

And, the biggest curveball in all of this is that I am also a nurse. My experience of becoming a patient has been more eye-opening for me than anything else in my nursing career. One of the silver linings of becoming a patient is that I have obtained a brand new understanding of the depth of the impact nurses have, and it makes me so much more appreciative of genuinely kind, thorough, thoughtful, and patient care, like the kind I received from Stephanie. It was important to me to take a moment to nominate Stephanie for the wonderful care she provided me, even though I know to her she just sees it as just doing her job, and is likely surprised to read this because she likely views the experience she provided/created for me today as “no big deal.” And that’s so funny that we do that as nurses, isn’t it? Sometimes, we think so little of the things that alter someone’s day. And yet, the reality is that the smallest things are truly the biggest. Feeling confident in my nurse when I’m going through these nerve-racking infusion days that still feel very new and emotional for me has the biggest impact on my experience and life. I hope to have Stephanie as the nurse assigned to me for my next infusion, too! Thank you for everything you do, Stephanie! You changed my life today, and you change the lives of every patient you care for- for the better. Thank you for being here.