My niece is a nonverbal quadriplegic young woman who was admitted due to bowel obstruction. She has been medically fragile her whole life, and hospitalizations are frequent as she has gotten older. In fact, she has been at Spotsylvania previously.

This time, there was an outstanding example of nursing care.

Julia took the time to ask her about her pain. Not just if she was in pain, but to go through the Pain Scale, asking her each number and then waiting for her response.

While my niece can't say a number to quantify her pain, she shook her head yes or no, and Julia took the time to wait to see when Maria nodded yes. In fact, she made sure she had the right number on the Pain Scale by asking more than once.

This may seem like a small thing to a lot of people, but it was a huge thing in that she was acknowledged as a human being with the ability to speak for herself even though it was not with words.

My niece is 29 years old, and that's the first time I have witnessed anyone asking her directly about her care.

From my understanding, that is the essence of nursing, and I wanted to take the time to acknowledge how much that meant to me and also to her..