Kevin Keepers
May 2025
Kevin
Keepers
,
RN
14A Surgical Care
Loma Linda University Medical Center
Loma Linda
,
CA
United States
They discovered a similar sense of humor, they love the same movies, and they both love to talk about music. Throughout the rest of the shift, Kevin helped to manage J’s symptoms, and he felt better physically. The biggest impact, though, was on his spirits.
My husband was hospitalized for a week in December 2024. As a nurse, I was a careful observer of the care my husband received. There were so many kind nurses and staff members who took care of him and who tolerated my attention with grace. There is one nurse who made such an impression that we are still talking about them now, four months after J’s hospitalization.
Several days after surgery, my husband had a tough night: fever, nausea, pain. As he lay awake that evening in the quietness of the room, anxiety settled over him. And then came Kevin: calm, focused, and confident. Kevin communicated with providers and intervened appropriately, and then he started chatting with J. They discovered a similar sense of humor, they love the same movies, and they both love to talk about music. Throughout the rest of the shift, Kevin helped to manage J’s symptoms, and he felt better physically. The biggest impact, though, was on his spirits. Throughout the rest of J’s hospitalization, whether Kevin was his assigned nurse or not, Kevin would say “Hi” and spend a few minutes talking with J. It was a longer than expected hospitalization, and it’s so easy to start seeing yourself as a sick person. Kevin’s attention to J as a person was a gift that helped to remind J that he was a whole person, and to connect him to himself outside of illness.
J’s hospitalization was most impacted on the first night Kevin was his assigned nurse, which was the toughest night of his hospitalization. J remarked at having a “dark night” that was “scary and overwhelming” as he was in and out of consciousness and was struggling with anxiety, fear, and the unknown. Kevin was a source of comfort and calm as he communicated important reassurances and, more than anything, that he was there, and J was not alone. It was that night, the night that Kevin was J’s nurse, that my husband recalls the most eventful moment during his hospitalization as he was helped through the most difficult and stressful anxiety-filled night by Kevin’s excellent nursing skills.
Kevin models what it means to be a DAISY Nurse through his confident, safe nursing practice and his humor and kindness. Kevin somehow made a stressful experience joyful. We have forgotten most of the medical stuff, but our happy memories of Kevin’s friendship live on.
Several days after surgery, my husband had a tough night: fever, nausea, pain. As he lay awake that evening in the quietness of the room, anxiety settled over him. And then came Kevin: calm, focused, and confident. Kevin communicated with providers and intervened appropriately, and then he started chatting with J. They discovered a similar sense of humor, they love the same movies, and they both love to talk about music. Throughout the rest of the shift, Kevin helped to manage J’s symptoms, and he felt better physically. The biggest impact, though, was on his spirits. Throughout the rest of J’s hospitalization, whether Kevin was his assigned nurse or not, Kevin would say “Hi” and spend a few minutes talking with J. It was a longer than expected hospitalization, and it’s so easy to start seeing yourself as a sick person. Kevin’s attention to J as a person was a gift that helped to remind J that he was a whole person, and to connect him to himself outside of illness.
J’s hospitalization was most impacted on the first night Kevin was his assigned nurse, which was the toughest night of his hospitalization. J remarked at having a “dark night” that was “scary and overwhelming” as he was in and out of consciousness and was struggling with anxiety, fear, and the unknown. Kevin was a source of comfort and calm as he communicated important reassurances and, more than anything, that he was there, and J was not alone. It was that night, the night that Kevin was J’s nurse, that my husband recalls the most eventful moment during his hospitalization as he was helped through the most difficult and stressful anxiety-filled night by Kevin’s excellent nursing skills.
Kevin models what it means to be a DAISY Nurse through his confident, safe nursing practice and his humor and kindness. Kevin somehow made a stressful experience joyful. We have forgotten most of the medical stuff, but our happy memories of Kevin’s friendship live on.