I have been in healthcare, including nursing leadership, and this is the longest I have ever been hospitalized. I had an unfortunate episode of nausea, vomiting like none other, and it gave me anxiety and fear. All my years of nursing knowledge suddenly didn’t mean anything, and I said to myself, "OMG, I am a patient."

My sister immediately started asking poor Joy what happened, etc., and I saw the calmness in Joy’s eyes, explaining to her what was going on. Hearing her talk in a therapeutic calm voice immediately gave me reassurance I was going to be okay that night. Joy didn’t just give me meds; she made sure I was comfortable and put my needs first instead of her task or checklist for the night. She kept checking in on me the whole night. She made sure the room temperature was right and offered warm blankets. Made sure I knew she was right there if I needed anything else. She clustered my care to make sure I got some rest.

Before I knew it, it was morning time, and when I woke up, there she was again. I thought she never left, LOL, and she said, "Oh, you are awake; how do you feel?” I smiled and said, "Thank you for taking good care of me; without you, I don’t know what the outcome will be for me." She is a reminder of why we all became nurses to do for others what they can’t do for themselves. It takes a special person to deal with a patient who is throwing up and anxious, and Joy made that job easy.

Thank you, Joy, for living the mission and values of City of Hope. Because of you, I don’t mind being a patient here at all. Kudos to you, and I hope you continue this path of compassionate nursing and never change.