Vincent Andal
June 2025
Vincent
Andal
,
RN
Medicine 9 Rio
University Health Hospiital
San Antonio
,
TX
United States
Sometimes, those moments are all you need, and Vincent exemplifies the compassion and empathy it takes to know that.
Vincent went above and beyond during a difficult time to make my partner and me feel safe and cared for. While I could go on forever about Vincent, there's one story in particular that really embodies who he is.
After being on short for two nights in a row, Vincent. Unfortunately, had me on my worst nights of pain while here. I hadn't slept in more than 48 hours and was still in horrific pain. I wasn’t sure how I was going to get through the night in that much pain. After first making us laugh and telling me stories to calm me down, Vincent got me as comfortable as I could during my pain spell. Miraculously, I fell asleep for a few minutes. I woke up in terrible pain to the sound of my alarm going off. I had set multiple alarms to go off so I didn't fall behind on my pain medication, and to keep me from being trapped in my "pain dreams."
To me, pain dreams are a conglomeration of flashbacks of some of my worst pain spells, any of my 22 code blue crashes, or really any triggering or particularly intense moments I've experienced in the hospital. When experiencing one, I can't wake myself up, but I feel real, physical pain. It's an outlet for my PTSD from years in the hospital, and setting the alarm helps break that cycle.
Back to Vincent, now that you have the context, when I woke for my alarm, Vincent was already in the room and ready with the pain medication so that I wasn't hurting and could sleep as much as possible. I explained to him both of the reasons I set my alarms, and Vincent replied, "My job is the meds. I know how hard it is for you to sleep, and it was my personal goal to help you sleep. Now that I've done that, I'll set a new goal: to keep you asleep. For at least this shift, just leave everything to me. I'll take care of the rest."
Let me say, I was glad the room was dark because I started crying. With a chronic disease as complicated as mine, I have to spend every second being hypervigilant. In my pure exhaustion, my excruciating pain, and my consuming pain dream cycles, to have someone not just say that but mean it? It makes all the difference. One shift I could have just handed everything over. Every shift after that, Vincent did the same. His shifts became one of the few times that I was so relaxed that I could get sleep. Sometimes, those moments are all you need, and Vincent exemplifies the compassion and empathy it takes to know that.
Thank you, Vincent!
After being on short for two nights in a row, Vincent. Unfortunately, had me on my worst nights of pain while here. I hadn't slept in more than 48 hours and was still in horrific pain. I wasn’t sure how I was going to get through the night in that much pain. After first making us laugh and telling me stories to calm me down, Vincent got me as comfortable as I could during my pain spell. Miraculously, I fell asleep for a few minutes. I woke up in terrible pain to the sound of my alarm going off. I had set multiple alarms to go off so I didn't fall behind on my pain medication, and to keep me from being trapped in my "pain dreams."
To me, pain dreams are a conglomeration of flashbacks of some of my worst pain spells, any of my 22 code blue crashes, or really any triggering or particularly intense moments I've experienced in the hospital. When experiencing one, I can't wake myself up, but I feel real, physical pain. It's an outlet for my PTSD from years in the hospital, and setting the alarm helps break that cycle.
Back to Vincent, now that you have the context, when I woke for my alarm, Vincent was already in the room and ready with the pain medication so that I wasn't hurting and could sleep as much as possible. I explained to him both of the reasons I set my alarms, and Vincent replied, "My job is the meds. I know how hard it is for you to sleep, and it was my personal goal to help you sleep. Now that I've done that, I'll set a new goal: to keep you asleep. For at least this shift, just leave everything to me. I'll take care of the rest."
Let me say, I was glad the room was dark because I started crying. With a chronic disease as complicated as mine, I have to spend every second being hypervigilant. In my pure exhaustion, my excruciating pain, and my consuming pain dream cycles, to have someone not just say that but mean it? It makes all the difference. One shift I could have just handed everything over. Every shift after that, Vincent did the same. His shifts became one of the few times that I was so relaxed that I could get sleep. Sometimes, those moments are all you need, and Vincent exemplifies the compassion and empathy it takes to know that.
Thank you, Vincent!