I wanted to thank my nurse for her commitment to compassion and empathy and for respecting my autonomy for the care that I received during my stay. I had received 3 chest tubes, and I was in a lot of pain. I felt that no matter what I was given for the pain management, it did not suffice. Vanessa understood I was trying my best not to request more. She timed out and placed my med list on the white board. Small victories were achieved if I did not have the need to request more relief before the set time. If I was struggling to make it to the set goals, she would be quick to contact the appropriate personnel to help me through my time of great struggle.

The day Vanessa’s compassion shined the greatest was when the doctor showed up without much care to remove 2 out of the 3 tubes. I really wanted the tubes out but was terrified of the process. The doctor wanted to walk in and pull the tubes. I asked him several times about lidocaine or anything so the process would not be so painful. The doctor tried giving excuses of why he shouldn’t. He was causing pain and being rough and aggressive with taking out the sutures. I lost my patience with him and told him to stop. He claimed if I wanted medication, I would have to wait several days if I chose the lidocaine. There was a short time out, and Vanessa talked with the doctor. She was able to collect the supplies and apply local anesthetics to help ease my pain and fears from the doctor and tube removal. The doctor came back shortly thereafter and was still a little rough. However, due to Vanessa’s care and compassion, the process went much smoother. My faith and trust in the care my family receives from this facility have been restored.