In August 2020, I was taken to the Welstar West Georgia Emergency Department by my wife for what turned out to be a very serious perforated ulcer. I was on the edge of having my organs and blood become overwhelmed by infection. Vicki Ragan was my Nursing care provider on that scary morning. I have had a ton of experience with various doctors, nurses, and other providers over the years, and Nurse Vicki became my instant hero on that scary morning in my life’s journey. She was attentive, caring, and patient, and absolutely the smoothest NG Tube installer ever! Fast forward to today, and another scary adventure visited us around 8 a.m. as my beautiful wife, T, of nearly 31 years, began experiencing severe acute pain in her head and began presenting very adverse neurological symptoms that to me were mimicking a stroke or an aneurysm. I quickly transported her to the Emergency Department at our local Welstar Hospital, which we locals always refer to as West Georgia Medical.

Upon arrival, the staff initiated the stroke protocol, and everything that comes with that began in short order. I must impress upon you all at this point, while I’m a very experienced patient, I must admit I stink as a caregiver, possibly like most husbands who get frustrated over not being able to “fix” a serious issue going on with their everything. Amid all the controlled chaos, Nurse Vicki Ragan appears and begins explaining everything they’re doing to help T and me finalize her registration. When T got to her exam room, after all the testing, Nurse Vicki came with her and was so patient, understanding, and helpful. Sometimes, medical staff is so focused on the task at hand that the family is sometimes a “back burner” deal in the overall scheme of things. Not our Nurse Vicki, as I think her superpower is to be the calm in the eye of the proverbial chaos hurricane that is an Emergency Department by nature in the midst of immediate patient care. She took care of T like she was Royalty, while still being able to answer the doctors, and, in the middle of all that, hugged me and then explained the care plan for my wife. Blessedly, my wife’s situation was resolved, and she’s fine with no damage, deficits, or future issues. In short, Nurse Vicki Stancil Ragan deserves recognition for all she does above and beyond the call of duty every day, and for her straightforward, no-BS way of explaining to us laymen the language and actions of the ER.