Jessica was my preceptor while I was on orientation. I learned many, many things from her wealth of knowledge and experience. Among some of the things she taught me are how to care for the dying patient. Sometimes families or patients themselves decide enough is enough and decide it is time to let the patient cross over to a better place. Jessica taught me how to help families through this process. Even though they may have made this decision, it is still not easy for them and they still are not ready for it. One patient left this world surrounded by family singing praises of God. She helped me to understand that the families are just as much our patients too. They need an amount of support and compassion as well to help go through the process. Another patient that stands out is a very young patient that was dying tragically and unexpectedly. The family had made the decision to remove him from life support before his mother arrived from Texas solely to be able to donate some of his organs so that something good could come out of his death. Jessica walked this family through exactly what was going to happen so it was less of a shock to them and easier for them to understand. The family was very grateful even in their time of pain.

This is a side of nursing that goes unnoticed and she did a wonderful job of doing it needing nothing in return. Many people do not look at the families of the patients and think of them as our patients too. Jessica does and for this I think she should be recognized.