My greatest fears were realized this summer when I became a patient for the first time and then again later in the summer when I was readmitted. I was blessed during my multiple admissions to have been cared for by some of our greatest nurses but none of them hold a candle to Isabella Allegrezza. From our first meeting during bedside safety check to the day that I was discharged, I knew that my care was in the hands of a caring, compassionate, patient advocate that made my needs and my family's needs a priority.
During my previous admission, I was discharged during a holiday weekend and was without patient and family teaching from Cardiac Rehab and without any scheduled follow-up appointments with CTS or MAC. When Isabella found out that we had questions about the rehab process she immediately enlisted the help of her manager, the nurses in Cardiac Rehab, and the Case Manager. Their care and compassion for me and my admittedly very nervous husband was absolutely amazing!
Isabella took the time to teach my husband and I about caring for my wounds, the best way for my husband to help me be more active, and what to expect over the coming weeks and months during my recovery from cardiac bypass surgery. On the second day, I was homesick (by this time I had been in the hospital about 8 days) missing our kids and our pups, Isabella found out and took the time to ask me about our kids, our pups, we shared photographs and stories which helped put my mind at ease. Later that same afternoon Isabella brought me a coffee cup that she had purchased that said "dog mom". To others, it seems like such a small thing but it truly made a difference in my hospital stay.
Throughout my stay, Isabella was the first nurse to really let me have the autonomy I needed to heal both mentally and physically. As a nurse, it is difficult to allow others to care for you and often we feel the need to "control" our patient's care but Isabella really let me help take care of myself from wound care to something as simple as weighing myself in the morning. My husband and I will always be grateful for the kindness and compassion offered to us by the manager and her amazing nurse but Isabella Allegrezza holds a place in our hearts that cannot compare to the others, she is an angel. Often as nurses, our patients and their families are not concerned with the complexity of their care but the love, compassion, and advocacy that we share while they are in our care.