My 93-year-old father-in-law, accompanied by his 87-year-old wife, was in due to him basically peeing blood, and lots of it. He was put in a ‘sub room’, which is a hallway, of which we are grateful. Once we got to a room, Katie was our nurse. She was friendly, compassionate, calming, and attentive to this 93-year-old man's needs and fears.

She was cognizant of his substantial hearing loss and accommodated it beautifully. It became acutely apparent that the hospital was understaffed, and it felt almost third-world in the fact that the hospital did not employ a urologist but had one they could consult. It became apparent that Katie may have been one of the very, very few nurses working that day, but we never felt unattended or forgotten.

There was a time when the catheter was clogged with blood clots, allowing nothing to go into the catheter, and all of it was on the bed. He said he felt wet, and when she lifted the blanket to a massive amount of blood no one was expecting, including her, she was so calm, like it happens every day, which is what both of my in-laws needed. She took care of us all day until he was admitted to the hospital for an entire week.

Katie was a great start to that not-so-great journey. My in-laws are still talking about her. She was absolutely amazing, and we are grateful to her that day.