My Mom was admitted to Shannon Hospital through the Emergency Room. I was able to be with her throughout the day. Her nurse was a young man named Aaron Helzer, and he provided her with excellent care throughout the day. I would like to tell you about some of the things that he did for us and how much we truly appreciate the extra efforts that he went to.

Mom had been very lethargic throughout the time that she had been admitted to Shannon. She did not remember the events that brought her to the hospital. She was in an enormous amount of pain due to not being able to take her pain medication for the last several days. And she was afraid. She told me that she did not trust this place and that she was afraid. Aaron had come into the room and introduced himself, but he was busy at the computer in the room. I assured her that she could trust her nurse. Aaron heard my comment and came over to the bedside. He told us that the reason that he became a nurse was because he wanted to help people. He assured her that he would take excellent care of her and that she could trust him. This really reassured my Mom. Throughout the day, there were multiple times that Aaron went above and beyond providing for my Mom. She wanted to take her dentures out, so he went and got a covered container to put them in. He made every effort to provide the prescribed Morphine in order to help keep her comfortable.

I asked Aaron if they would attempt to perform the study that morning, and he had already called to check on it. He followed up on our conversation with another phone call, and they were there shortly to perform the study. She was able to swallow chopped meat and soft foods. This was the first food that she had eaten in days. I had to leave the hospital for a couple of hours but when I returned, I asked Aaron if Mom would be able to start her oral meds now and he was already on his way to get some chocolate pudding to put the grounds meds in.

Earlier that morning I had asked Mom how she had slept. She said that she slept terrible, that she kept waking when they took her blood pressure. Aaron came over to the bedside and explained that the medication that she was taking to help raise her blood pressure was a high-risk medication and required that her blood pressure be taken every 15 minutes throughout the day and night. He then said that he would be able to discontinue that medication because her blood pressure had stabilized.

Another time, Mom complained about being tired of being in the bed. She needed to stay there because they were going to be doing an Echo on her heart. Aaron pulled her up higher in the bed, repositioned her and propped her up with pillows to make her more comfortable.

Overall, Aaron was quick to respond when there was a need. He didn’t mind explaining situations or answering our questions. He was very thorough and professional.