When I first got to the hospital, night shift was changing over to the day shift, and our new Nurses were Bonnie Barbour and a Student Intern. I watched as they quietly entered the room my dad, who is 90 and was waiting for word on surgery, was stationed. 

He had a bowel obstruction and was in quite a bit of pain. Bonnie spoke quietly and calmly to my dad and very respectfully. She found out quickly that my dad did not have good hearing, so she wrote it on the board right away so that anybody could see and ask if he had his hearing aids in. The intern quietly observed, following Bonnie around the floor. You could tell she was very observant and listened to every conversation that Bonnie would have with my dad. 

Bonnie was very kind and respectful in her teaching methods, making sure her trainee could see what she was typing about medicine etc. for my dad on the computer and kindly explaining how to do things without talking down to her. It was beautiful to observe Bonnie in teaching mode, and the student obviously learned very fast because when she could, she would comment and help out with what she remembered from past conversations about my dad's diagnosis.  Both handled all of our questions with loving kindness and respect, even though we had to ask several times. Bonnie would make sure to follow through on the questions that she needed to ask another person on and came right back with answers. 

My dad was having a hard time with pain management, and so had many narcotics, but then he could not get his bowels moving again.  Both Bonnie and the student were very kind, helping my dad on walks and to the bathroom, even quickly getting him new gowns when he had accidentally soiled them. Never letting on how gross it was. For some reason, there were oxygen dips, and as soon as it beeped, they were quick to come in and explain or look for kinks in the tubing or whatever. 

All of this seems relatively ordinary, except Bonnie was handling two jobs at once, with her student as her trainee, my dad as the patient and us kids. I was so grateful for their teamwork and their kindness. They went above and beyond to be quick, kind, respectful, pleasant, and, most of all, professional! It is hard to blend chatting on a walk with my dad while watching his tubing and footing, keeping him safe, but they made it look easy! They had a general calming way of caring for all of us really that kept us from becoming overly emotional at the situation. I am so grateful that these two women have chosen the nursing field. They give Fairview Ridges Hospital in Burnsville, Minnesota, a wonderful name and reputation!