I was 19 weeks pregnant when I had to deliver my baby with no heartbeat. As you can imagine, I was an emotional wreck. Linda came in and the first thing she did was to offer her condolences and acknowledge what a difficult situation this was. Next, she asked if I was a woman of faith and if it was ok if she prayed with us which immediately brought comfort and tears to my eyes. Throughout her shift, Linda sat with me, held my hand as I cried, distracted me by listening to our stories about my other children and family. As a nurse myself, I know how the charting, the phone calls and all the other stuff can get in the way of providing the attention that we would like to give our patients. Linda never made me feel like she was busy or had something else to do. In fact, I had to tell her she could leave since I was sure she was busy. She stayed anyway.
Linda was so genuine, compassionate, thoughtful, patient and thorough. She not only took the time to get to know me and my situation, by my family as well. She met every one of my needs and anticipated my needs even before I did.
She provided comfort in a situation that I never thought could be comforted. When I look back to this day, I will be able to smile at the fact that I had such an amazing, wonderful nurse. I will also take Linda's oversize heart and compassion and pass that along to my own patient's, remembering what a difference it made to me. So by caring for one patient, Linda's compassion will be spread to many others.
Linda is such a blessing to me and to this hospital. Thank you Linda!