I was attacked by my own dog in January. I had spooked him while he was sleeping, and he basically mauled my face. While the care I had overall during my stay at Mercy St Louis was definitely great, Kate stood out to both me, my husband, and my family. She was super positive, always smiling, beyond caring, never rushed me or my care, calm and collected at all times, and was proactive in checking on me and anticipating anything I needed to be more comfortable. 

My parents and husband were, of course, watching me and the care I was getting like a hawk, and they all would say how much they loved Kate every time she’d leave the room. She just made everyone feel at ease. The incident was hands down the scariest time of my life. I’ve been lucky to always have been very healthy and have never needed to go to an ER, much less a hospital stay. I hate anything to do with medical treatments, needles, etc., so I’m a bit of a baby with a lot of things they needed to do to me daily.

Kate never made me feel that way. At the end of her shift she had told me that she had requested to get my floor again. No nurse during my stay made me feel like a burden by any means, but you can sometimes still feel like one when you know how busy they all are and you need help with something that seems small but you can’t do it by yourself yet. Knowing she wanted to help me get better and take care of me meant the world to me. 

The day Kate was back on shift and on a different floor, she came in early for it to come by my room and see me again as I was getting discharged later that day. She talked with my husband and me for a bit and then asked if she could pray for us, with us. We agreed, and in her prayer, she said something that stuck out to us both and has truly gotten me through the hardest days since this happened. “We don’t always feel God at the top of the mountain, but we feel him in the valleys of life…”. She made my husband tear up with that one, and he’s not one to cry. I hope the right people at Mercy read this and understand what an asset they have in Kate. She’s a nurse who truly cares, wants to make a difference in the well-being of her patients in all aspects, and is so undeniably herself while still being a professional that you can’t help but feel comforted being in her care. I will never forget the angel God sent to my room to take care of me during the worst days of my life. She truly made it bearable when she was my nurse.