Through the years I have been a patient on 10 Tower 4-5 times. I can remember the first time I met Christie was back in 2016. She walked into my room and was so cheerful and happy. I thought to myself "no one is ever this happy and cheerful all the time, especially not in the nursing field." Well, I have to admit, Christie proved me wrong. Her cheerfulness continued through the entirety of my stay. Every time she walked into my room she was smiling, I would see her in the hallway and whether she was charge or taking care of me, she would always smile and joke with me.
My second admission to the unit was in 2017; Christie was the charge nurse on the unit that day and realized I was admitted for another surgery. Christie went above the charge nurse duty to welcome me back to the unit and always made me feel like I was in the best hands possible. During this stay, Christie was one of the primary nurses to care for me. If anyone has been through a long bowel surgery, you know that you can get depressed and frustrated with life. Christie knows me as a patient and could tell I was not in a good place; Christie made it her personal mission to get me back to my happy place. My incision at the time was below my belly button from hip to hip, it looked like a smile. Christie did a simple task of making me two eyeballs to go above my belly button and have my belly button be a nose and what do you know, it made a smiley face! This simple task just brightened my mood and gave me hope again.
This admission, I got admitted to a different unit from the ER. Through the grapevine, Christi found out a bowel obstruction was on a different unit and after she asked who it was and found out it was me, it became her personal mission to get me back home on 10 Tower. Being in the hospital is never something anyone wants to do, but feeling like people want to care for you and help you with your journey is truly a blessing. Throughout this stay, Christie continues to show her caring and compassion every day. One day it was the end of her shift; I had mentioned I would like some help walking the hallway, Christie took it upon herself to ensure I was walked, even if she had to stay after her shift ended.
Christie has shown me through the years what a difference a nurse can make in your life. When you have a nurse like Christie, who goes above and beyond anyone's expectations, being sick and in the hospital doesn't seem so overwhelming. She continually reminds me to take my hospital stay one step at a time and whenever it seems like too much, I have Christie and the other wonderful nurses on 10 Tower who are looking out for me and supporting me.