My mom was a patient at Baptist Health, hospitalized with multiple medical issues, including combative dementia. She was extremely confused and scared. Dara cared for her many nights and would go from patient to patient that she was responsible for, but in between, she always came back to my mother‘s room and would sit and talk to my mom to calm her down. She mostly listened to my mother.

When I came in the next morning, Dara would share the many, many stories that Mom had shared with her. Dara spent hours comforting her and keeping her calm. She asked my mom questions about her upbringing and became such a sweet nurse and friend to my mom and our family. My mom absolutely loved Dara at a time when she felt betrayed by everyone. She did not understand what was going on, and her greatest comfort came from talking about her family and memories she had as a little girl. Dara listened to every free moment she had.

It didn’t physically heal my mother, necessarily to be heard and to be seen, but it gave my mother dignity and a richness to the end of her life that is beyond any medical care you could ever receive. My mom left the hospital walking some with a walker and doing well – she also left with wonderful memories of her sweet nurse and new friend, Dara.

Sadly, my mom fell again and returned to the hospital, in the palliative care unit. Dara saw mom’s name on the palliative care floor and would come every single day during her breaks to be in my mom‘s room. At that time, my mom could not interact or even open her eyes. Dara came to support our family and to just be a friend to us. We were very sad and had questions about what it’s like when someone dies. The hospice and palliative care floor was absolutely amazing, and Dara was just a bonus to all of that.

I have received texts from Dara checking in on my father since my mother passed. I mentioned Dara and the hospice/palliative care team in my mother‘s obituary because of the genuine love and care that they not only gave to my mother but to our entire family. I could give many other examples of Dara’s wonderful level of care: responding quickly to requests to get mom’s brief changed because she had bed sores from the facility from which she came, bringing a different sandwich if mom didn’t eat, answering every single question patiently that we had or mom had, working as a team with our family, respecting our request to use as few narcotics as necessary because of the delirium mom had experienced in the past with them-this made Dara’s job harder but she didn’t care.

I think those types of things make a really good nurse, but what makes Dara outstanding to us is the way she loved our mother. The healthcare was top-notch, but the way Dara emotionally invested in our mom and I’m sure all her patients were above and beyond. Dara is so gifted at healing and loving others.