Several months ago, I had an appointment with Dermal Wound for a very large open wound on my left ankle. The nurse cleaned it and applied a new dressing, but evidently scrubbed it so hard that it left me in extreme pain. On my way out of the hospital, the pain became so severe that I stopped by the counter for my Primary Care doctor to inquire if I could see him and get him to prescribe something for the pain. They told me to take a seat in the waiting area. The pain was so severe that I couldn't sit still and was rocking back and forth in the chair when this nurse I had never seen before, Lisa, came out, saw the pain I was in, dropped to one knee beside me and started talking to me.
Next thing I know, I was in Lisa's office with the blood pressure cuff on, and of course, my pressure was sky high due to the pain. She herself went to Mr. L's office even though he was with another patient and got the prescription I needed, had me go to the pharmacy, pick it up, and come back to her office and sit there until the pain subsided and my blood pressure came down. Even though I'm sure she had other matters to attend to, she had me stay there under her watchful eye until I was feeling better. Since then, she has been scheduling appointments with me to come in to see her on monitoring my blood pressure and other related matters and even called me at home a couple of times to check on me.
What I am trying to project is that in all my 65 years, I've never encountered a nurse at any hospital that has shown such a high degree of concern, care, and patient dedication to resolving the misery of a person she didn't even know, how fast she jumped into action to resolve the situation and amid everything else she had going on that day. I kept apologizing for taking up all Lia's time and without me even having an appointment because I could see she was really busy, but she implied that it didn't concern her-only that I was taken care of. She really left a lasting impressing on this old soldier.
The VA is really fortunate to have such a dedicated professional on their staff and available to military Veterans. I wish there were more like her. I am still shell shocked at the above and beyond care and attention, I received from her that day and since. You hear all the negative stuff these days about VA caregivers, but these people have never met nurse Lisa Harrison at the Salem VA Hospital. She is definitely an angel in a nurse's uniform in my eyes.