Susan Ramsey
May 2014
Susan
Ramsey
,
RN
General Surgery
Mission Hospital
Asheville
,
NC
United States

 

 

 

My mother was admitted to the hospital dehydrated and confused. She is 95 and this was a very scary time for her. I am in California and could not be by her side. Within hours of her getting IV fluids, I was able to speak with her, and she was on the mend!

Unfortunately, the very next day, Mom's hearing aid battery ran out, and our communication by phone was eliminated. I called the nurses' station to talk to Mom's nurse and I asked if she would please see what she could do to get Mom's battery replaced. This wonderful nurse by the name of Susan Ramsey said that she would try. Well, I was told that Susan went to the gift shop and bought a battery with her own money to help my mom. I could talk to my mom by phone once again!

I would like to express my heartfelt thanks to Susan for going above and beyond and taking such good care of my mother. She was able to reassure an elderly lady with the gift of restoring her ability to hear, and she calmed a panicked daughter with the ability to communicate with her mom!

What a valuable asset Susan is to your staff. I am delighted to bring this to your attention.

...

A terrific thing happened to me on Tuesday of this week. I was sitting at my desk and my telephone rang; it was a long-distance number. It was the daughter of a patient who had been hospitalized recently. She was taking time out of her busy day to call me because she had something she wanted to say - something important. The patient's daughter wanted me to know how wonderful Susan Ramsey is. As Susan's manager, I already know that, of course; but I love it when other people get to know how wonderful Susan Ramsey is.

I could hear the daughter's voice crack and tears begin to flow as she talked to me about Susan caring for her mother. Her mother is extremely hard of hearing, and the batteries to her hearing aids had died. The daughter lives very far away from Asheville and was unable to visit her mother in the hospital for this reason. The only way she had to check in with her mom was by telephone. And now she couldn't even do that! The daughter was scared and worried for her mom, and would not be able to be reassured by the sound of her mother's voice over the telephone.

When Susan had a minute, she didn't sit down to take a break. She went directly to the gift shop and purchased out of her own pocket money a set of batteries so that the hearing aids would work. The gratitude I heard in the daughter's voice was palpable. Susan had given her a very important gift - the ability to communicate with her mother - And the ability to sleep a little easier at night because she was able to hear her mother say, "I'm okay. I love you."