We had a patient admitted on our unit for complaints of pain, failure to thrive. Metastatic cancer was quickly discovered and the patient declined very quickly. This patient had 7 children and 27 grandchildren, many of whom visited with the patient. I received a beautiful letter from one of his daughters about Cynthia Hawley.

She described Cynthia as “an exceptional and compassionate nurse”, and stated she was “kind and patient to all of us.” What touched me most was how she wrote that this nurse was “deeply respectful and allowed my grandfather to preserve the dignity he deserved in this very difficult time.”

Cynthia always goes out of her way for her patients and identifies their “Most Important Thing.” She will do whatever it takes to meet her patient’s needs. Often times this requires the help of her peers. With this particular patient she just asked another nurse to watch over her other patients so she could get the patient ready and in a wheel chair. He and his family wanted one last picture with his 7 children. The patient was quite ill at this point, but she made it happen. She brought them all down to our Healing Garden and took the picture for them.

Although this was in many ways a very sad situation, the family saw it in a very positive light, in large part because of Cynthia’s support, respect, caring and concern. His children were so grateful that they were all able to get here in time to see their Dad, to get that last picture, and be with him when he passed.