Sharon Steffens
May 2025
Sharon
Steffens
,
BSN, RN
CSSC
Northwestern Medicine Palos Hospital
Palos Heights
,
IL
United States
Sharon S was kind, compassionate, and extremely intelligent, explaining every step of the way and what was going to happen next.
Sharon was an outstanding Nurse! Extremely knowledgeable, very efficient, constantly on top of things, excellent communicator, and a fabulous personality. We actually shared many laughs together. She turned what could have been a very stressful day of surgery into a calm experience. I am so thankful to her!
***
My sister had a lumpectomy done at Palos Hospital. As we all know, that is a very scary diagnosis to have. When we arrived at Palos Hospital at 6:00 AM, we were greeted by the receptionist, who was very respectful and kind. We were then taken to the preoperative area, where Sharon S took over her position as the nurse caring for D before surgery. Not only was she kind, smart, and informative, but she also followed our lead to have a sense of humor. We chose not to look at this diagnosis as a death sentence, and we chose to look at it as the day we were going to remove the cancer and then carry on with our lives.
Sharon fully understood that and respected that we were not mourning, but that we were celebrating the life that D was going to have after the surgery. We couldn’t have chosen a better nurse. Sharon S was kind, compassionate, and extremely intelligent, explaining every step of the way and what was going to happen next. Being informed is the most crucial aspect of this entire journey. Sharon was able to do that very successfully. Even after we left Sharon‘s area and D went off to surgery, Sharon still took a few moments at the end of her shift to come by postop to see how D was doing, to make sure she didn’t need anything else, and then to say goodbye for the end of her shift.
We were so grateful to have had such a wonderful nurse. Although I don’t remember the names of all the staff who took care of my sister yesterday, each and every one of them was pleasant, kind, and compassionate. I have worked at Palos Hospital for 38 years. I have always thought that our staff was the best. None of the people I was in contact with yesterday knew that I was also an employee. They didn’t need to put on a show. They did what they were supposed to do as nurses, doctors, and staff members to make this patient feel comfortable and safe. For that, I am so grateful.
My sister-in-law was also at Palos Hospital the day before. She had surgery as well for something completely different. During our conversation with Sharon, we also learned that she had taken care of our sister-in-law the day before. She also mentioned how wonderful Sharon was as a pre-op nurse. As I wind down my career at Palos, after 38 years, I have worked for the best hospital on the South Side of Chicago. Thank you all for everything you did for my sister and my sister-in-law over the last couple of days. It was so very much appreciated. Thank you
***
My sister had a lumpectomy done at Palos Hospital. As we all know, that is a very scary diagnosis to have. When we arrived at Palos Hospital at 6:00 AM, we were greeted by the receptionist, who was very respectful and kind. We were then taken to the preoperative area, where Sharon S took over her position as the nurse caring for D before surgery. Not only was she kind, smart, and informative, but she also followed our lead to have a sense of humor. We chose not to look at this diagnosis as a death sentence, and we chose to look at it as the day we were going to remove the cancer and then carry on with our lives.
Sharon fully understood that and respected that we were not mourning, but that we were celebrating the life that D was going to have after the surgery. We couldn’t have chosen a better nurse. Sharon S was kind, compassionate, and extremely intelligent, explaining every step of the way and what was going to happen next. Being informed is the most crucial aspect of this entire journey. Sharon was able to do that very successfully. Even after we left Sharon‘s area and D went off to surgery, Sharon still took a few moments at the end of her shift to come by postop to see how D was doing, to make sure she didn’t need anything else, and then to say goodbye for the end of her shift.
We were so grateful to have had such a wonderful nurse. Although I don’t remember the names of all the staff who took care of my sister yesterday, each and every one of them was pleasant, kind, and compassionate. I have worked at Palos Hospital for 38 years. I have always thought that our staff was the best. None of the people I was in contact with yesterday knew that I was also an employee. They didn’t need to put on a show. They did what they were supposed to do as nurses, doctors, and staff members to make this patient feel comfortable and safe. For that, I am so grateful.
My sister-in-law was also at Palos Hospital the day before. She had surgery as well for something completely different. During our conversation with Sharon, we also learned that she had taken care of our sister-in-law the day before. She also mentioned how wonderful Sharon was as a pre-op nurse. As I wind down my career at Palos, after 38 years, I have worked for the best hospital on the South Side of Chicago. Thank you all for everything you did for my sister and my sister-in-law over the last couple of days. It was so very much appreciated. Thank you