Josselyn Gaulke- Labor and Delivery

1.) Throughout my stay at UCLA Ronald Reagan Medical Center, I felt very fortunate to receive such quality and personable care from each nurse, doctor, or employee on staff. However, above all I felt that Josselyn Gaulke stood out from the rest. She brought support, respect, and laughter to room each day I was under her care. On June 3, 2010, my husband and I met our son, LPS, at UCLA Ronald Reagan Medical Center. Soon after the delivery, I moved to the Maternity Department and met Josselyn the following morning. Still sore and nervous from the previous evening - not too mention to stubborn to ask for help - Josselyn cheerfully entered my room and introduced herself. From the beginning, I felt a sense of ease. Quickly, Josselyn recognized I wasn't the type to openly ask for help, so, subtly she assisted me back into the simplest of tasks - using the restroom, bathing, walking, etc. Although all of these seemed quite silly to ask or need help with accomplishing, I didn't feel like anything she did was a chore for her, but instead something that was so natural and fluid she carried out each duty as we'd known each other for years and nothing was too awkward or off limits. Often a little embarrassed to call Josselyn to come back to my room, each time she returned as if she were waiting just outside my door and entered with the same warm smile. Although very basic and obvious to some, these bedside mannerisms are frequently overlooked or even forgotten in today's healthcare industry. Josselyn Gaulke was a perfect example of what nursing is all about - consistent compassion, care, and communication. I hope that with this nomination as a small token of my appreciation, Josselyn receives the highest award of excellence. She deserves the recognition for her service to me, but more importantly for setting a high yet attainable bar for all nurses.


2.) By the time Josselyn came to my room, I was in recovery from a C-section, tired, unable to put my baby down without him crying, and feeling still sad about my failure to have a natural birth. Josselyn came in intuiting all of this. She had clearly read my chart and started asking me about my labor and empathizing. This was so amazing as I hadn't expressed any of my feelings to her. Then she let me know what interruptions were coming that evening and adjusted the timing so that I could get some sleep. She removed the IV I had already asked the previous nurse to get rid of (again without prompting from me), began talking about when I would be going home (at the forefront of my mind...how did she know?), then picked up my child and started talking about how great he was (music to a mother's ears). She offered to help me get him to sleep in the crib - a feat I tried unsuccessfully. Then she put him to bed and told me to call if I needed anything. After she left, he started screaming and because she was so nice, I felt comfortable calling her back in. She was so amazing! She told me go to sleep and that she would "dance" with my baby and it seemed like 20 minutes she shushed and calmed him and walked around my room while I was able to doze off. When he was sufficiently calm, she put him in the crib, left the room and put a "do not disturb" sign on my door. I finally got sleep and even better - felt emotionally uplifted from her empathy, concern, and caring nature. She is a fabulous nurse and an even more wonderful person! Please, please, please give her this award!!!