Charles J Corsiglia
January 2025
Charles J
Corsiglia
,
RN
5BF
Norton Hospital
Louisville
,
KY
United States
Even on the days he was not assigned to my wife, CJ would make time to stop by and check on her as well as all the rest of us.
My 51-year-old wife had emergency open heart surgery to repair an ascending aortic dissection. Most patients would not have lived to make it to the OR with this condition, but after 8 hours of surgery she was admitted to the ICU to begin recovery.
CJ was the first nurse assigned to my wife and our family. It was not long before we found out that she had suffered multiple strokes all over her brain during the course of the surgery and most of the doctors did not expect her to survive. CJ walked into her room and you could tell right away that he was very proficient. He went about his business explaining everything he was doing and why he was doing it. What set him apart for me was the personal interest he took in our family as we spoke over the next 2 weeks. He learned that my son had just graduated from nursing school and was following in his mother’s footsteps. He began talking to him like a colleague and not just a family member.
Even on the days he was not assigned to my wife, CJ would make time to stop by and check on her as well as all the rest of us. Even if he was just walking down a hallway or heading to his car, he would take a minute to see how she was doing and how we were doing. We were going to turn off all life sustaining measures after waiting for 15 days because my wife did not want to be kept alive on machines. We only waited this long because it was Christmas time, and my son had his graduation and graduation party to go through. By some miracle, she woke up the day before we were going to take that action and since then has been steadily improving every day. We cannot wait until she is able to walk back into the hospital to go visit CJ and tell him what a difference he made to our whole family.
In a time when I had never been so lost or in the grips of a greater despair, he was a calming presence and a steadying hand. Even though her condition was bad, I knew when I saw that he had been assigned to us for the shift, there would be at least 12 hours I did not need to worry and felt comfortable leaving her room long enough to eat or take a break. I feel extremely passionate about CJ winning this award. I truly do not believe I would have made it through those dark days without him being involved.
CJ was the first nurse assigned to my wife and our family. It was not long before we found out that she had suffered multiple strokes all over her brain during the course of the surgery and most of the doctors did not expect her to survive. CJ walked into her room and you could tell right away that he was very proficient. He went about his business explaining everything he was doing and why he was doing it. What set him apart for me was the personal interest he took in our family as we spoke over the next 2 weeks. He learned that my son had just graduated from nursing school and was following in his mother’s footsteps. He began talking to him like a colleague and not just a family member.
Even on the days he was not assigned to my wife, CJ would make time to stop by and check on her as well as all the rest of us. Even if he was just walking down a hallway or heading to his car, he would take a minute to see how she was doing and how we were doing. We were going to turn off all life sustaining measures after waiting for 15 days because my wife did not want to be kept alive on machines. We only waited this long because it was Christmas time, and my son had his graduation and graduation party to go through. By some miracle, she woke up the day before we were going to take that action and since then has been steadily improving every day. We cannot wait until she is able to walk back into the hospital to go visit CJ and tell him what a difference he made to our whole family.
In a time when I had never been so lost or in the grips of a greater despair, he was a calming presence and a steadying hand. Even though her condition was bad, I knew when I saw that he had been assigned to us for the shift, there would be at least 12 hours I did not need to worry and felt comfortable leaving her room long enough to eat or take a break. I feel extremely passionate about CJ winning this award. I truly do not believe I would have made it through those dark days without him being involved.