Beginning in March until October, when my husband was transferred to IU Medical Center, he had many admissions to the hospital during his treatment for Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma. Each hospitalization would consist of several days on the 10 South - Oncology Unit.

During these stays, we got to know several of the team members, in particular John Hutchinson, RN. John demonstrated compassionate and caring concern. His knowledge and skills were extraordinary. He would be able to coordinate Joe's treatments and medications during the evening and night shift so that we wouldn't have to be woken up several times during the night. I was able to actually sleep a little during the nights in the hospital when John was taking care of him.

John would always be upbeat with a smile, and always a positive attitude. A couple of his sayings were "keep your wits about you" and "pray until something happens." When we would comment on how glad we were having John and what excellent care he provided to us, John would humbly say "thank you."

On the morning of October 31, Dr. A determined he needed to be transferred to IU Medical Center, Indianapolis, IN for his care. Although John was scheduled to be off duty at 0700 that morning, he stayed several hours and helped coordinate his transfer from 10 South to ICU prior to going to IU.

One of the last things my husband was able to communicate to us was he missed having John to take care of him at IU. Unfortunately, the outcome wasn't as we hoped for and he died on November 11 while at IU.

The day of his funeral, one of the first people to arrive to the church and greet me was John. As he approached me, I could see the compassion in his eyes. As we embraced, both of us began to cry and he whispered in my ear "remember to keep your wits about you".

What an exemplar of a caring professional!