Nurse Whitney’s care for me over two nights of a week-long, wearisome hospital stay was like a refreshing, cool drink. She was thorough in her nursing - carefully performing her nursing assessment, calmly and systematically completing each of her tasks, and administering each of my medications. Even when the unit was down on techs, and she had to take my vital signs, she never appeared rushed, impatient, or scattered. She was prompt every time I needed help - whether getting pain medicine or helping me get to the bathroom with my chest tube atrium. She planned out my care in coordination with the tech the first night to maximize uninterrupted sleep and minimize the number of times I was disturbed. She did an excellent job changing my chest tube dressing, after which the debilitating muscle spasms I was experiencing on my chest wall seemed to have decreased significantly. Was it the way she carefully and gently applied the new dressing, or was it her gentle and kind demeanor? I don’t know, but I don’t hesitate to draw a correlation between my relief from chest wall pain and Whitney’s care.

She had compassion and patience for even my smallest discomforts. For example, Whitney patiently helped me replace 6-day-old telemetry stickers that were irritating my skin, using lighthearted humor that lifted my mood and made me chuckle. She helped me get into bed for the night, which is quite an involved task! — with fastening SCDs, snaking chest tubes, positioning head pillows and arm pillows, straightening telemetry wires, placing the bed control and bedside table near me, turning off room lights that I couldn’t control, unwrinkling bed mats, and smoothing out covers. And to do it all again an hour later, after I had to use the bathroom. And again, after I had to go to X-ray. Always with a smile, with gentleness, with care, without a trace of impatience or complaint. At a time when I felt discouraged, haggard, and weary, she called me “beautiful,” and her treatment helped me to believe I was. Excellent, compassionate nursing care, like the care Whitney provided, makes a big difference in patients' well-being. Thank you, Whitney, for your care for me.