My husband came to the hospital via the ER due to throwing up then spitting up blood. He aspirated foreign matter into his lungs and was intubated when the doctor did an ENDO on him. He is 78 years old and was in critical condition. He was placed in the SICU unit on Friday night.
The next morning Amanda Helms took over the care for my husband. From the moment I got to the hospital to be with him until she left work about 7:15 PM, she made our very scary and worrisome event so much better.
I am a retired RN myself and I know excellent care when I see it. Ms. Helms went above and beyond the call of duty. My husband required a lot of care and she was there continually to turn him frequently, change his sheets, re-align him, do mouth care, clean his face, and all the other things required to care for someone so unable to care for himself.
While taking care of his physical needs, she talked to him so sweetly and explained to him what she was doing even though he was heavily sedated. Plus, I know she did many medical things required of her. She did all this with a smile and lots of patience.
In addition to wonderful and professional care she gave my husband, she made me and my family feel safe and comfortable and explained everything to us. In fact, all of my family fell in love with this sweet professional, caring and knowledgeable nurse. She gave us an example of how BayCare strives to care for its patients by hiring and training their nurses to give beautiful care like Ms. Helms so kindly and professionally gave to my husband and our family.