My mother entered Blanchard Valley on Wednesday and passed away in the Cardiac Care Unit on Saturday. Mom had been in the hospital several times over the past year and had always remarked on the excellent nursing care she had received each time. For context, my mother had been an RN for over thirty years - the first 15 years at Blanchard Valley Hospital when it was still in the old building and the last 15 years in hospice, both with Bridge Home Hospice and later with Hospice of Northwest Ohio in Perrysburg. She was known for providing excellent care, and she understood what that looked like from both a provider and patient perspective. I feel the need to call out three nurses who provided excellent patient and family care during my mother’s last days. Please be aware that we believe my mother received competent and compassionate care from the staff overall while she was in the hospital, from doctors, nurses, and PCTs. My choice to call out three members of the staff is not meant to diminish the efforts of anyone else who cared for or interacted with my mother in a professional capacity in her last hospital stay. My understanding is that the CCU is a unit that requires people to excel in order to be chosen for it. The three nurses I have chosen to recognize seemed to go above and beyond even that high standard.

Suzhen was my mother’s nurse on days for both Thursday and Friday. From the start, my mother raved about the compassion Suzhen showed her and her technical competence. I could tell that Mom saw something in Suzhen that reminded her of herself as a young nurse, and they seemed to bond immediately. From the first moment I stepped onto the unit, and watched Suzhen in action, I could tell she was ‘hovering’ near my mother’s room - not obtrusively, but definitely with purpose. My wife said it best - she noted that in previous hospital stays, when it was clear mom had come through a procedure OK, and was bouncing back in recovery, the nurses and techs relaxed a bit and just enjoyed caring for her as a person. Mom’s nurses in the last three days never relaxed in this way - maybe they had an intuition she was not bouncing back this time, maybe they just did not like the telemetry and other numbers, but they never let up. Suzhen was not only attentive to mom but also careful to check on family members. I have three brothers, all four of us have spouses, and a number of grandchildren managed to visit as well. Suzhen cared for all of us appropriately, even when there were a large number of people in the room, and was patient with us while moving around the room. Suzhen always seemed to be around, even though I knew she had other patients, and her care felt seamless.

I caught a sweet moment between my mom and Suzhen on Friday, just before Suzhen was due to go off shift. For whatever reason, I was the only son in the room at the time, and I walked in to find Suzhen and Mom huddled together as Suzhen was pushing her pain and nausea meds. While pushing the meds with one hand, Suzhen held my mom’s hand with the other, and they chatted quietly. Suzhen was sharing some details of her personal life, including, I believe, her experience as a young mother. My mom was doing one of the things she did best, listening, and occasionally sharing her experience and wisdom. I did tell Suzhen face-to-face at one point how much Mom appreciated her and raved about her care - I believe she almost cried.

Zach was Mom’s nurse on the night shift for Thursday and Friday. He seemed to provide the perfect counterpoint to Suzhen, and I could tell Mom felt safe with him being there at night. Zach also ‘hovered’, in a good way, and showed enormous patience amid the large family presence, especially the rather boisterous visit on Friday evening from one of my mother’s nursing classmates/oldest friends. Zach also never relaxed, and I have to share a moment that showed me his true character. On Thursday night at one point, kind of out of nowhere, my mother experienced a moment of significant nausea - something she had not really experienced much of up to that point. While my wife used the call button to alert staff, I searched for an emesis basin or something for Mom to vomit in. I didn't find anything in time, and although the tech responded quickly, she was just a moment too late to avoid mom causing a bit of a mess on her gown and bed. Zach was hot on the heels of the tech - he immediately took charge of the situation and tenderly and deferentially helped clean Mom up, change her gown and sheets, and ensure that she was dry and comfortable again. After this situation occurred, Zach seemed to - the only way I can describe it is “took the situation personally”, in the most professional and positive way possible - and he seemed to always be checking on mom, and assertively requested nausea meds from the doctor, and also advocated for a change from the morphine she had been receiving to Dilaudid, her preferred pain medication. He also seemed truly protective of Mom and of what she wanted. I was truly impressed with his level of care, patience, and interaction with family members.

Deloris was Mom’s nurse on Saturday during the day and was present when Mom died. I believe that Deloris was the nurse that Mom needed that day, and the nurse that my family needed that day. By Saturday mid-morning, it was clear that Mom was struggling, and we were trying to reach hospice to set up care for her within the hospital. Mom’s condition was starting to deteriorate, and my brother was struggling with decision-making as her health POA to thread the line between her DNR wishes and providing enough care to provide comfort. Deloris was steadfast in supporting his efforts, acknowledging the difficulty of the situation, and providing information on the comfort each type of care could offer. She also interceded with the doctor to help draw the line and not go beyond mom’s wishes to prolong her condition unnecessarily. Deloris’ combination of a calm, professional demeanor, evident compassion for mom’s condition, and absolute respect for mom’s wishes helped keep a horrible moment for my family from becoming a nightmare and spinning out of control. She was absolutely a rock when we needed one, and I truly appreciated her efforts. She also helped us to deal with what was happening to mom by explaining what was happening to her from a physical and medical perspective, and by letting us know what to expect in each stage as mom’s body shut down. When mom passed away, my wife noted that Deloris never treated her any differently. She continued to speak to mom and call her by name, instead of just as someone who had died.

As my brother and I waited for the funeral home representative to come, I was privileged enough to witness something I had heard about, and that my mom had told me stories about from her own experience, but that I had never witnessed personally. Deloris asked another nurse to come in and remove the Foley catheter, remove the I.V., and basically clean Mom up for the last time. Mom had told me that many nurses consider this moment to be ‘sacred’ in a way, the last care they can provide to their patient. To my regret, I did not learn the name of the nurse who assisted Deloris, but I will never forget the unbelievable care and respect that they showed my mother in this last duty to her, and I am 1000% sure it had nothing to do with witnesses being in the room. I watched these two women treat my mother with infinite care and compassion, and it simultaneously broke my heart and filled it with joy. I believe each of the three nurses above deserves special recognition for their efforts on my mother’s behalf.