Donna O'Flaherty
March 2025
Donna
O'Flaherty
,
BSN, RN
Surgical ICU
NYU Langone Hospital-Long Island
Mineola
,
NY
United States
My dad was discharged on Sunday when Nurse Donna returned to work, and though he was no longer in SICU, she came to see him and check up on him and our family, and that really meant so much to us.
Nurse Donna is one of those angels on earth who is skilled, practical, and leads with empathy, bringing a smile and a laugh during the worst times of your life to remind you to hold on to hope. My family went through a sudden emergency with my father just last week. He was going for a follow-up angio after experiencing chest tightness that revealed devastating results, and he would immediately go for open heart bypass surgery the next day. Nurse Donna was the ICU nurse during this unexpected admittance, where my Dad was facing a very scary time.
Though we felt confident in the procedure and circumstances, given the suddenness, it was a really stressful and trying time. When I arrived at the hospital, Nurse Donna was attending to him and trying to put him at ease with some jokes. The first thing my father said was that Donna is amazing and the best - and he's hard to impress. She knew the way to approach him was by explaining things clearly and answering all his questions. She was also so kind to my family - my mom, my aunts, my cousin, and me as we waited for my sister to arrive. She assured him that he would do well and that she would be back on Thursday.
My dad successfully underwent surgery, and his talented team. Wednesday evening, I requested that Nurse Donna be assigned to him in the morning on Thursday, since I knew she would be back. As I guessed, when he woke up, he was extremely happy to be cared for by Nurse Donna. I know that she was a calming presence not only to my father but also to my family. Knowing she was the one to watch everything in those critical post-24 hours was important to us.
My dad was discharged on Sunday when Nurse Donna returned to work, and though he was no longer in SICU, she came to see him and check up on him and our family, and that really meant so much to us. There are no words that are sufficient to express my gratitude and appreciation to Nurse Donna and the other Nurses who took care of my Dad. This was one of the hardest weeks we ever faced as a family, but knowing that my Dad had such a great team taking care of him meant we could feel a little bit better at night when we weren't with him. I will never forget these Nurses and their professionalism and kindness; I have the utmost respect for the work they do and how they support all their patients. Thank you, from the bottom of my heart, for helping bring my dad home.
Though we felt confident in the procedure and circumstances, given the suddenness, it was a really stressful and trying time. When I arrived at the hospital, Nurse Donna was attending to him and trying to put him at ease with some jokes. The first thing my father said was that Donna is amazing and the best - and he's hard to impress. She knew the way to approach him was by explaining things clearly and answering all his questions. She was also so kind to my family - my mom, my aunts, my cousin, and me as we waited for my sister to arrive. She assured him that he would do well and that she would be back on Thursday.
My dad successfully underwent surgery, and his talented team. Wednesday evening, I requested that Nurse Donna be assigned to him in the morning on Thursday, since I knew she would be back. As I guessed, when he woke up, he was extremely happy to be cared for by Nurse Donna. I know that she was a calming presence not only to my father but also to my family. Knowing she was the one to watch everything in those critical post-24 hours was important to us.
My dad was discharged on Sunday when Nurse Donna returned to work, and though he was no longer in SICU, she came to see him and check up on him and our family, and that really meant so much to us. There are no words that are sufficient to express my gratitude and appreciation to Nurse Donna and the other Nurses who took care of my Dad. This was one of the hardest weeks we ever faced as a family, but knowing that my Dad had such a great team taking care of him meant we could feel a little bit better at night when we weren't with him. I will never forget these Nurses and their professionalism and kindness; I have the utmost respect for the work they do and how they support all their patients. Thank you, from the bottom of my heart, for helping bring my dad home.