My 64-year-old husband has chronic pancreatitis. He had endoscopic surgery, and as a complication, he developed a collection of infectious fluid in his abdomen. We spent a week in the hospital. Dean was assigned as our nurse for three days. He felt like family because he was always so enthusiastic and friendly. He went above and beyond the call of duty by:

1. Showing my husband how to clean blood with the saline solution, rather than alcohol.

2. Administering the blood transfusion, which we were very nervous about, as he put us at ease.

3. Provided instructions on how to order meals for both the patient and myself, the guest. He suggested that for weekends we order breakfast the night before because the wait time in the mornings was extra long.

4. Suggested that we request repeat instructions on the JP drain flushing by doing it ourselves and having the nurse watch.

5. Blocked the auto-flush on the toilet with a paper towel for the doctor to administer a test.

6. Explaining in more detail the medical reports from the doctors and answering numerous medical questions.

Dean was always so eager to help and always asked if we needed anything else before leaving the room. We looked forward to seeing him each day and were so glad to learn when he was our assigned nurse on the second and third day. We truly missed him on his day off, and after that, he was no longer our assigned nurse. He made our stay very pleasant, given the pain my husband was in. Dean truly is a people person and a top-notch nurse. He is bursting with energy to help his patients. Even when my husband was no longer his assigned patient, he stopped by to say hello and said if we needed anything from him, to feel free to let him know.