December 2023
Johanna K
Hagelthorn
,
RN
Kingston Family Health Center
The Institute For Family Health
Kingston
,
NY
United States
I admire how much she cares for her patients and how much she wants to do right by them.
Nurse Hagelthorn is in a class unlike any other. When I came in for my appointment, there was an issue with my chart--she noticed the issue, informed me of it, and fixed it immediately. It's really refreshing to have a nurse with a sense of humor--I was getting vaccines and, despite putting on a brave face, I'm not enthused about being stabbed and don't like needles. She made the process painless; we were in conversation the whole time, joking even, and I hardly noticed that I'd been stabbed. She even chose brightly colored Band-Aids because she knew I would like them. I admire how much she cares for her patients and how much she wants to do right by them. I've met a lot of nurses as both a patient and spouse of a chronically ill person, and so many of them seem unhappy and burnt out. I can't blame them; the profession is difficult, staffing is short, and people are sometimes very unkind. But being treated like a human, above just a number or a diagnosis, really makes the process of going to the doctor's office that much better. I don't think I would trust another nurse to give me vaccines, and I would tell my family members to come in when she is working so that they can have the good experience I had as well.