It was very obvious to me and my family from the first moment that we met Vicki, during one of the worst nights we could have imagined, that she was meant to be a nurse. The compassion she showed my family over the next four nights is unexplainable. Vicki showed expert knowledge and confidence while still being able to appropriately communicate such advanced medical technology, procedures and goals to me and my family, all while maintaining her composure when we were not able to do so. She always had a smile on her face and was so patient and attentive. She celebrated the small victories with us. When my grandfather would improve, she would act as if it was her family member laying in that bed.
Not only did Vicki go above and beyond with her care for my grandfather in the ICU, but she showed a tremendous amount of care for me while I stayed with him each night. She knew every time she took a temperature, checked a blood sugar, drew blood to send to the lab or gave a medication, I was going to ask about the process. She would always take the initiative to tell me before I had a chance to ask. I always felt like a bother when I asked about lab work or test results. With Vicki, she would just step in and tell me, "Hey, the labs came back and the result was XYZ." I appreciated that more than she knew.
The first two nights in ICU, I got very little sleep, mostly, from worrying about my grandfather who had seemingly been well, talking to me days before to now being intubated. But Vicki assumed my little sleep was because of the shoes she wore. You see, when she walked into our room, her shoes made a small squeaking sound against the floor. The next two nights, she refused to wear the shoes she admitted were her favorite so I could get some sleep. She cared not only for her sick patients but for me, a worried family member. Vicki is truly one of a kind and I could not have picked a better caregiver for my grandfather.