May 2025
Johanna E
Valdez
,
BSN
ICU
UnityPoint Health - Meriter
Madison
,
WI
USA
My family will be forever grateful for the honor of having Johanna care for our daughter and sister.
My 38-year-old daughter was in the ICU when she passed. Johanna was there when she was admitted and spent the first 8 nights and several more day shifts with her. Johanna is a truly amazing woman who is definitely a dedicated nurse who has answered her calling. She is so knowledgeable, kind, loving, and caring. She was such a valuable resource and support for our family. She sat with my daughter at night and gave her wonderful baths and kept her so well groomed. She asked so many questions about who she was, her likes, dislikes, children, hobbies, who she really was when she was healthy, and she asked to see pictures of her and who was important in her life. She spent so much time talking with her, holding her hand, and reminding her she was safe and where she was. She told her who was there that day and other information she received during our conversations at her shift start. She even requested that she be moved from another patient to care for our daughter.
There was one evening that we were not sure if she would be there, and I had so much anxiety about leaving that evening that the moment she entered the room to say she was back to care for my daughter, I felt such a relief that I just cried. She was always ready to give advice about bringing my daughter’s youngest son to see her after we removed all of the life support, and even offered to coordinate it with his father, who is estranged from us. Thankfully, we were able to get him there to see her before she passed, and he was so responsive to her kind, gentle manner, which made a hard situation easier for us all, and we will be eternally grateful to her. She was always ready to offer a hug. Those hugs affected me so deeply. We were honored that she was there the afternoon that my daughter passed and was so very comforting to me, my Husband, and her sister. My family will be forever grateful for the honor of having Johanna care for our daughter and sister. We were sad to say goodbye to her and truly felt she was a very important part of our lives in a terribly hard time.
There was one evening that we were not sure if she would be there, and I had so much anxiety about leaving that evening that the moment she entered the room to say she was back to care for my daughter, I felt such a relief that I just cried. She was always ready to give advice about bringing my daughter’s youngest son to see her after we removed all of the life support, and even offered to coordinate it with his father, who is estranged from us. Thankfully, we were able to get him there to see her before she passed, and he was so responsive to her kind, gentle manner, which made a hard situation easier for us all, and we will be eternally grateful to her. She was always ready to offer a hug. Those hugs affected me so deeply. We were honored that she was there the afternoon that my daughter passed and was so very comforting to me, my Husband, and her sister. My family will be forever grateful for the honor of having Johanna care for our daughter and sister. We were sad to say goodbye to her and truly felt she was a very important part of our lives in a terribly hard time.