April Garcia
June 2024
April
Garcia
,
RN
Med Surg
Orlando Health South Seminole
Longwood
,
FL
United States

 

 

 

The voice was kind, patient, gentle, welcoming, encouraging, soft, comforting, and considerate, yet playful at times, the fundamental qualities of an educator and a nurse.
At 21:05 I received a voicemail lasting 07:29 minutes. The caller exemplified the 4 Cs and was the epitome of an educator. My father’s favorite words, “Work well even when men’s eyes are not on you,” came to my mind as I listened to the voicemail. The voice was kind, patient, gentle, welcoming, encouraging, soft, comforting, and considerate, yet playful at times, the fundamental qualities of an educator and a nurse. I had goosebumps and was so impressed; I prayed this was an OH TM. Initially, I thought it was an educator colleague teaching at a college. The phone number was OH. I called the number to determine who the caller was. The caller was April from fourth floor. She recognized me and said I would know her once I saw her. I told her I wanted to meet with her before she left work and she was right, I know April. April took 07:29 minutes to commit, connect, communicate, and maintain curiosity with her student even though she had a challenging shift. Her peers and leaders were not surprised as this is her norm. I salute this OH SSH TM, and I am honored to call her my colleague. April is one of our charge nurses and primary preceptors, and I can speak with confidence when I say that this is her norm when precepting new nurses. She is always very calm and takes the time to teach novice nurses, along with the why. Every nurse she has precepted has turned out to be a very strong nurse.