After being diagnosed with a rare lung infection, I was scheduled to receive infusions three times per week at the Mayo Clinic Health System hospital in New Prague, Minnesota. I had rarely been sick in my life, so this was new, and I was quite nervous about my health and quality of life.

On the first day at the infusion center, I was met by Karissa. She welcomed me and put me at ease immediately. She explained it would take about 15 minutes to prepare my antibiotics and an hour for the infusion. Since I was going to need infusions 3 times a week for possibly a year, Karissa said that if I promised her I would be there on time for every appointment, she would have my antibiotics ready when I arrived. I made that promise and my antibiotics were always ready and it saved me hours over the course of my treatments.

During my hour-long visits, I observed Karissa showing great care and empathy toward other patients in the infusion center. Always a smile, always compassion, and always great care. She worked well as part of a team. If I had other appointments the same day at the hospital, Karissa set them up during my infusions to make better use of my time, and I greatly appreciated it.

After 54 infusions, my visits to the infusion center had ended. Karissa removed my PIC line on the final day, and although I was very glad to be done with infusions, I needed to say goodbye to Karissa and the others who took great care and showed a deep sense of personal responsibility for being a nurse.