A patient on the Medical unit had unfortunately suffered a stroke that severely injured his brain. His behavior became erratic; he began hallucinating and verbalizing hallucinations that were frightening to him and staff. Bernadette took the time to find an approach that would help the patient feel he was not alone in this new and scary world. This truly helped the patient because even through his hallucination he could see that there was a person who cared about him and would be there to help him. Several times the patient would scream out during his hallucinations. Bernadette would drop everything and went to the patient and comforted him. When Bernadette was helping him you could see the relief in his face that someone he trusted was there, and that at least for now things would be OK.

Bernadette is also an excellent nurse leader and her sense of fairness, kindness and compassion for the patient and staff is part of what makes her an excellent role model for all of us.