Warning for triggers.

I wanted to give a most heartfelt thank you to the nurse that saved my life. It’s been 15 months since I first spoke to Nurse AJ and I know my nomination is overdue, but that is the case with debilitating mental health problems like I do deal with. I was in a different clinic last year and I kept getting passed around, dismissed when I asked for help and had medication questions, and had no hope. I’m young, partially disabled, but started hearing voices that didn’t sit well with me and my family. I didn’t feel confident sharing parts of me with other providers that made me feel bad and so I hid my symptoms just to get my meds. At the time I feltlike I was being dumped to Internal Medicine, but my prayers were answered. I asked for headache med refill, and I couldn’t believe how fast I got a call from a nurse.

AJ is the first healthcare professional that ever asked me if I was getting enough sleep, felt safe at home, or did I have thoughts of harming myself. I kept my mask on and told her I am safe. When I asked her why she asked those questions, she said she was genuinely asking all her patients. She said she’s worked in ER and in the hospital; regardless, if it’s the beginning of a shift or the end, she asked the same questions because people change throughout the hour, the day. There was something about the time and honesty she gave me.

It took me a week before I called her back and voiced that I was suicidal and had chaotic nightmares. I planned on taking all of my meds at once that day. It was hard, but I regained my trust in JBER as she explained what to expect going to the ER. I felt no judgement for once. She didn’t stop checking on me even after that and months went by. My family and I get emotional when we think of the dark place, we were all in. If I could, I would give her a garden of daisies because she gave me back my time with my family and removed the stigma of mental health that for so long held me back. I was on the phone with her but a few minutes, yet she listened and heard more than others. She made me feel deserving. I want this Award to go to a most deserved nurse: to Nurse AJ