From the moment I first met Gianna, I felt blessed. Her presence was calm, sweet, caring, and genuine. So when I had an emotionally-challenging, powerless experience with getting some bloodwork drawn, I pressed my call button, stating it was not an emergency, but asked if she could come when she had time. She came right away and listened to my concerns and validated my feelings. I told her I didn't want another patient to have that experience. She then called down to the lab and reached out to her own supervisor to relay my experience. She and her supervisor came to my room for reassurance, discussion, and appreciation. Gianna helped me to go from feeling quite powerless in my healthcare to empowered in less than an hour. She then filled out a report to have it discussed at a lab meeting an hour later, which will keep future patients from going through what I had gone through. We, patients, can feel powerless and vulnerable for the reasons that led to our hospital stay, so to feel empowered in any way means so much, and I greatly appreciate it.

Unfortunately for Gianna, this all happened at the end of her shift during nurse appreciation week, no less. She should have been on her way home after a long, busy night, but she acted as though it was her pleasure to stay to help me feel better. Amazing in itself, but to stay to make me feel better emotionally is truly above and beyond what I would expect from anyone. Silver Cross is as blessed as I am to have Gianna.