After spending approximately 6 hours in the emergency room with my very ill 83-year-old mother, she was admitted to a hospital unit not suitable for her immediate medical needs and diagnosis. Only hours after being admitted (and when I left the hospital), I got a call that she had been transferred to the ICU and her condition had greatly deteriorated. I arrived back at the hospital, where my mother was unconscious and intubated, a completely different condition than when I had left.

The next few hours were full of unexpected conversations with physicians, notifying family members (local, out-of-state, and out of the country), and heavy decision-making. With a shift change in the unit, 2 nurses were assigned to care for my mom. Their attention to her and our family is notable and praiseworthy. 

Nurse Joshua Wheeler demonstrated excellent qualities of initiating immediate patient care, assertively communicating with me and all family members with compassion, and actively delivering whatever service was needed at any given time. Joshua answered our questions thoroughly. It appeared that he had experience and a natural instinct for knowing what is needed for everyone involved regarding a patient in the Intensive Care Unit with a rapidly declining condition. He helped us feel comfortable expressing our wishes for my mom, and assured us that he and the assisting nurse would support us in seeing to what was needed to accomplish that by orders of the attending physician.

In my mother's final few hours with us, we had a total of 8 family members in the room. We wanted to be close to her, and gathered strength from one another through that difficult time, as well as in the decision-making process. Joshua and E, the assisting nurse, had provided a comfortable environment for us in the room with chairs, beverages, and a bereavement platter of snacks. Before her life support aids were suspended, Joshua and E offered to provide my mom with a minor bathing and clean-up, which was a very noticeable and preferable visual when we all came back into her room. Joshua was consistent with his professionalism, even while conversing in a friendly discussion with other family members. Joshua helped make this difficult experience easier on my son as the two conversed and discovered that they both lived briefly in Zimbabwe around the same time. They shared their experiences and knew some of the same individuals there. Their conversation brought a feeling of camaraderie and moments of positive reflection for my son. 

We were fortunate to have diligent exercise of their duties in effective patient care with proficiency and compassion from Nurse Joshua Wheeler. I am very grateful and wish him the best of luck in his future endeavors in the medical profession. Nurses with the level of professionalism and compassion that Joshua Wheeler possesses greatly improve patient care and even elevate the hope and morale of those in their care. It also raises public confidence and trust for those in the medical profession, and eases the minds of patients' family members and friends.