My husband had open heart surgery in late November. The ICU staff was terrific, everyone on the 3rd floor needs cinnamon rolls! What a group of professional and caring, compassionate people. The main person who we felt the most outpouring of purest, honest warmth was Emily. We are relatively young, 53, 54, but of course older than her, but I felt like I made a friend for life. Now, not that being a friend is her job but the way she relieved the anxiety my husband had during the post-op care and rehab. Her competence in medical expertise, knowledge, problem solving, explanation of med usage, why the choice, what to expect, reasoning etc was superb. When my husband did his first longer walk of 10 yds out of the room, his heart went into A-fib which made him very frightened. He was thinking he messed up somehow. He was put on medication and she really explained that everyone has to do the test run, like a stress test, to see if this happens and don't worry. She was calming and not downplaying his fears but acknowledging his concerns. She was also extremely attentive to me, his wife, who was here every day to make sure I had family support and daily support. I honor her whole heartedly because of her excellent medical skills, personality, integrity and warmest bedside manner.
Note: This was Emily's first shift on her own after completed the internship.