My father had a last-minute hernia surgery, and we were planning on taking him home that night. Unfortunately, he struggled coming out of surgery and was admitted for overnight observation.

Our first contact on the floor was with his nurse, Jen. My brother and I introduced ourselves, and we shared that one of us would always be with him during his stay. We confidently and naively told her, “He’ll be your easiest patient tonight”. We were very wrong, and I think he ended up being her most challenging.

 About an hour later and over the course of the next twelve hours of her shift, my father's blood pressure dropped drastically on at least three separate occasions, and he lost consciousness twice. On every occasion, Jen was right there by his side as she called for assistance and calmly coordinated the chaos that broke out in his room. It was obvious that we were watching someone who loved what she did.

She was composed, assertive, focused, and determined to get my father through these episodes of loss of consciousness and to determine what was happening. It was a level of professionalism and competence that we were definitely thankful for and impressed by. What we did not expect was her focus on my brother and me and our well-being once our father recovered from each of these lapses in consciousness.

Jen could see the shock, the confusion, and the worry on our faces at what we had experienced. On this very busy night for her, once my father was stable and cared for and with who knows how many other patients on the floor assigned to her, she took time to repeatedly comfort us each time with her compassion, confidence, and reassurances.

We weren’t the patient, but she cared for us like we were. She clearly explained what was happening to my father and how they were treating him, both in the immediacy of the situation and what we might expect to come.