Allyson Wilkinson, BN, RN

My husband said, "If every nurse were like Ally, we wouldn’t mind having to be in the hospital." Ally was like a breath of fresh air. She came into the room with a cheerful and beautiful attitude. She is one of UW's best nurses. Her bedside manner is professional, kind, and compassionate. She went out of her way to help me feel so much more at ease and always made several trips to make sure all my needs were met. And trust me, I know I'm a needy patient!! I had several embarrassing issues happening, and she just took it in stride and acted like this was a normal thing that she sees every day. She talked to my husband like he'd been her friend for years.

Making my husband comfortable is a hard-won task for anyone. Even though I was an RN for 27 years in many different hospitals, she spoke to me like we had been coworkers for a while and could work step by step with each other with no words needed. I know she may not feel all the accolades we are heaping on her, or the closeness my husband and I felt.

But all of it is true. Today is Wednesday, and we expected her back today, but we still had the great nurse that we had, who had been an excellent nurse for the past two days!

I hope whoever was blessed by Ally's presence today truly appreciates the excellence they had in caring for them today. Thank you, Ally. We greatly appreciate YOU! You made a huge difference in what was a terrible situation.