On 12/4/11, I had been a patient for three days. I was feeling down about my lack of progress and overwhelmed with nausea and pain that I had been dealing with for the last two weeks. Since being admitted, I had received IV pain and nausea meds. The IV pain meds had to be discontinued because of complications. The nausea meds were not helping at all. At the start of Mary's shift, she came in and did bedside report with the offgoing RN. Mary's calm, confident spirit made me feel that she was going to make a difference for me on that day. I was teary and exhausted, but Mary's excellent eye contact and quiet, gentle confidence was comforting.
After report, Mary came back to my room to perform her assessment. While Mary was talking to me, I got the impression I was her only patient and she would do whatever it took to get me feeling better. She promised to call the physician and see about switching me to a different pain and nausea medication, which she promptly did and came back with the new medication. Just as Mary came back with the new pain med, I asked her if I could have crackers with my pills … which meant she had to call the doctor back, because I was on a clear liquid diet. Mary did not hesitate and did not act like she minded having to call the doctor again. She just said it was not a problem and she would let me know what the doctor said. Just a few minutes later, Mary came back with crackers for me. I never knew crackers could be so tasty - but they were after only being able to tolerate Jello for two weeks! I do not think the new pain and nausea meds were as powerful as Mary was. I was able to be discharged that evening to go home and tribute that to Mary's efforts as a caregiver for everything I needed.
I hope that Mary's example of the mission of OSF is going to filter out to others who work with her. I am grateful to OSF for my care and for having nurses on staff like Mary who treat others with the greatest care and love.