I had been in the hospital for a few days with a catheter infection, and I was trying to leave on the 15th because my wife, who has cognitive issues, really needed me home. I had arrived at a plan with my medical team, which involved having 24 bags of saline and two antibiotics delivered to my home. First thing that Tuesday morning, I had managed to secure a commitment from my home care company for the saline bags and the antibiotics as soon as they received an order from the Doctor(s). That order was not readily forthcoming. Around 10:00, the resident came around, and I explained my situation and the fact that if my home care company was to deliver the supplies that day for me, I needed an order from the Doctors as soon as possible. By now. Heidi was on my case, and she was doing everything she could to expedite the process, including checking every few minutes to see if the orders had been sent. XX, the home care planner, was also doing her best to expedite the process. A little after noon, Dr. X from Infectious Diseases came by. He and I had discussed my plan to treat the infection at home, and I had obtained a commitment for the necessary supplies. Dr. X agreed with my plan, but said he would have to consult the team. However, when pressed by both Heidi and me, he agreed he would submit the orders, but only for the antibiotic. I would need one of the medical doctors to order the saline. Heidi did the best she could to contact the medical team. Around 2:00 or so, the supervising physician came around, and again I went through my story and the time constraints. After talking with Heidi and some further hesitation, he said he would order the saline. Again, Heidi kept checking to see if the order had gone through. Around 2:45, Heidi said that it appeared that at least one of the antibiotic orders had not gone through to my home care company. Heidi called Dr. K, who said he tried to order the antibiotic, but it would not go through the system as an outpatient drug. At this point, at Heidi's suggestion, with Heidi at my side, I called my home care company to see exactly what the status was. Turns out one of the antibiotics was not ordered; however, my nurse, Heidi, could order it-which she promptly did. So finally, about 3:15, thanks to Heidi's remarkable persistence and efforts, I was able to leave the hospital. She quickly prepared the discharge papers and fetched from the hospital pharmacy the first dose of one of the antibiotics. (The home care company could not send me that particular antibiotic until the next day.) About 6:00, I received at home, by courier, all my supplies. One thinks mostly of nurses sympathetically caring for sick patients; however, in today's hospital bureaucracy, they become the ombudsman for the patient, trying to negotiate the hospital system. Heidi did a splendid job in this function. If she ever leaves nursing, she should be a CEO! And by the way, she was also a wonderful nurse in caring for me, changing my dressing, and attending to my other primary care needs.