January 2026
Puja
Gautam
,
RN
Med Surg Onc
Spotsylvania Regional Medical Center
Fredericksburg
,
VA
United States
I was a hip-replacement patient and spent the night in the hospital after the surgery. Late at night, I began to feel distressed, and Puja was the first on the scene after I hit the help button. I was going in and out of consciousness, and Puja was by my side, getting help and calming me down with an air of confidence that was far beyond her age and experience. My blood pressure had fallen dangerously low, and she called the crash cart, which responded in force. All the while, she was the steady voice of calm, seemingly ensuring – at least to me- that everything was going to be ok. I will never forget her words of “stay with me” when I was going in and out of the dark. She was doing this while wiping me down with a cool washcloth. I will never forget her and wish her all the best in her career.