Mousami Adhikari
May 2021
Mousami
Adhiksri
,
RN
Tower 10
Ohio State Wexner Medical Center, East Hospital
Columbus
,
OH
United States
Mousami is truly a genuine person. She is kind, empathetic, and strong. She is the perfect person to care for people who are hospitalized and ill.
My husband had an 18-day hospital stay at OSU East. My husband began with an emergency Appendectomy surgery and unfortunately, due to complications had a second and third surgery during this hospital stay. Over the course of his hospital stay, we visited 4 floors. Tower 3, Tower 8, PCU & Tower 10. The Big Ten – well, they were the absolute best.
By the time we arrived at Tower 10, after 9 days in the hospital, our emotions were high. My husband had been through so much physically that his heart rate was running too high for too long, he had endured three surgeries, had been septic, had multiple infections, needed Ostomy and Wound care from surgery two and three was experiencing Hospital Delirium, and was trying to fight all of this with a compromised immune system due to his RA medications. My husband was exhausted. His spirits were low, he felt impending doom and he was scared that he was not going to live. I also arrived at Tower Ten feeling scared and unsure of what would happen next. I worried every time a doctor entered the room that we would receive more bad news. I did not want to leave and I feared that I would not be able to take my husband home. We both had so many unanswered questions. So many worries. And to top it all off, when visiting hours ended each day, I had to leave my husband in this fragile physical and mental condition even though my husband was begging me to stay. My husband felt as though he had no advocate with him and no one to trust in his altered mental state.
Our first day on Tower Ten was rough because it was determined that my husband would need a sitter as he had pulled out his NG tube and his IVs several times. In addition, he tried to get up and set off the bed alarm more than once. The second night that my husband was there, we had a nurse who changed everything. Her name is Mousami. To begin, she gained my husband’s trust almost immediately which was not an easy task as he trusted no one at that point and there were times when he did even not trust me and I have been his wife for 25 years. Mousami cared for my husband as if he was her own family member. She made sure that he had dry bedding since he soaked his bedding regularly. She caught an allergic reaction to his antibiotic and worked with the pharmacist to correct this. She got him to calm down when it was time to get his crushed medicine through an NG tube which had already been an issue on the previous floor and continued to cause him anxiety for the remainder of this stay. She got him ice packs and cold cloths when he had a fever. She got his cough medicine corrected when the surgeon said he did not want to suppress his cough. She held his hand and was patient even when he could not explain what he needed because of his mental status. She made sure that he had quiet time to sleep which is hard to do in a hospital for patients that need to be taken care of and watched closely. She did not judge him even when he was grumpy and having a hard time coping. Mousami just continued to be patient and explain what she was doing and why she needed to do what she needed to do to care for him (giving medicine, checking wounds, listening for bowel sounds, etc.) Mousami is truly a genuine person. She is kind, empathetic, and strong. She is the perfect person to care for people who are hospitalized and ill.
Over the course of the time that she took care of my husband, she was supportive to both of us. Mousami answered so many of our questions about his medicine, the healing process with the Wound Vac, Ostomy care, allergic reactions, how medicine worked and what they were for, etc. She taught me things about how to care for him when we went home – everything from a simple bed change to Ostomy Care. She read his chart and knew his medical information well. She comforted us when we cried. And, when I explained that I am his primary caregiver and expressed that I needed to stay (my husband was already disabled before this hospital visit for other reasons) she helped me get permission to stay with him overnight which made a world of difference for him during a time when he was not mentally strong and needed a familiar face. All of these things directly positively impacted my husband’s recovery. Mousami was instrumental in my husband’s recovery. She even came to check on him and say hello on every single future shift that she worked even when she was the charge nurse and/or not assigned to him.
A few days before my husband was discharged, he asked about her again – as he did every 12 hours at shift change. But this time, he was getting clearer mentally and he hoped that she would be his nurse again. And, although my husband had several wonderful nurses on Tower Ten - he specifically wanted to see her. He told me that when he thought things may not go well and he was scared of whether or not he would recover or continue getting sicker – he felt “that she held out her hand and lead him to recovery.” When my husband told me that, I cried. I was so moved by what he was saying because I felt that same way. I felt that Mousami was supposed to be our nurse during the hours and days that she was taking care of him.
I want you to know that we are not taking this nomination lightly. We are nominating Mousami for The DAISY Award because she is extraordinary. She is a healer. She treated my husband as a whole person and not just for his wounds. Personally, I am from a family full of nurses – my Mom being a kind one and my Sister being the smart one and my Grandma being the tough one. I have witnessed all of them throughout my life caring for people (before HIPPA) when I was able to go with them to work. In my opinion, Mousami is all of them. She is kind and smart and strong when she needs to be and all at the right time. She encouraged us and shared education. She eased our worries. She is exceptional. And for that, we are thankful. When I think of all our nurses at OSU and how hard they work – and how many nurses we need due to nursing shortages immediately and in the future years it is refreshing and reassuring that with all of the challenges and demands nurses face, there are still nurses who impact families in the way that Mousami impacted mine. From the Patient’s family to Mousami and Tower Ten --- THANK YOU for taking care of my husband as a whole person. Most importantly, THANK YOU, for saving my husband’s life.
By the time we arrived at Tower 10, after 9 days in the hospital, our emotions were high. My husband had been through so much physically that his heart rate was running too high for too long, he had endured three surgeries, had been septic, had multiple infections, needed Ostomy and Wound care from surgery two and three was experiencing Hospital Delirium, and was trying to fight all of this with a compromised immune system due to his RA medications. My husband was exhausted. His spirits were low, he felt impending doom and he was scared that he was not going to live. I also arrived at Tower Ten feeling scared and unsure of what would happen next. I worried every time a doctor entered the room that we would receive more bad news. I did not want to leave and I feared that I would not be able to take my husband home. We both had so many unanswered questions. So many worries. And to top it all off, when visiting hours ended each day, I had to leave my husband in this fragile physical and mental condition even though my husband was begging me to stay. My husband felt as though he had no advocate with him and no one to trust in his altered mental state.
Our first day on Tower Ten was rough because it was determined that my husband would need a sitter as he had pulled out his NG tube and his IVs several times. In addition, he tried to get up and set off the bed alarm more than once. The second night that my husband was there, we had a nurse who changed everything. Her name is Mousami. To begin, she gained my husband’s trust almost immediately which was not an easy task as he trusted no one at that point and there were times when he did even not trust me and I have been his wife for 25 years. Mousami cared for my husband as if he was her own family member. She made sure that he had dry bedding since he soaked his bedding regularly. She caught an allergic reaction to his antibiotic and worked with the pharmacist to correct this. She got him to calm down when it was time to get his crushed medicine through an NG tube which had already been an issue on the previous floor and continued to cause him anxiety for the remainder of this stay. She got him ice packs and cold cloths when he had a fever. She got his cough medicine corrected when the surgeon said he did not want to suppress his cough. She held his hand and was patient even when he could not explain what he needed because of his mental status. She made sure that he had quiet time to sleep which is hard to do in a hospital for patients that need to be taken care of and watched closely. She did not judge him even when he was grumpy and having a hard time coping. Mousami just continued to be patient and explain what she was doing and why she needed to do what she needed to do to care for him (giving medicine, checking wounds, listening for bowel sounds, etc.) Mousami is truly a genuine person. She is kind, empathetic, and strong. She is the perfect person to care for people who are hospitalized and ill.
Over the course of the time that she took care of my husband, she was supportive to both of us. Mousami answered so many of our questions about his medicine, the healing process with the Wound Vac, Ostomy care, allergic reactions, how medicine worked and what they were for, etc. She taught me things about how to care for him when we went home – everything from a simple bed change to Ostomy Care. She read his chart and knew his medical information well. She comforted us when we cried. And, when I explained that I am his primary caregiver and expressed that I needed to stay (my husband was already disabled before this hospital visit for other reasons) she helped me get permission to stay with him overnight which made a world of difference for him during a time when he was not mentally strong and needed a familiar face. All of these things directly positively impacted my husband’s recovery. Mousami was instrumental in my husband’s recovery. She even came to check on him and say hello on every single future shift that she worked even when she was the charge nurse and/or not assigned to him.
A few days before my husband was discharged, he asked about her again – as he did every 12 hours at shift change. But this time, he was getting clearer mentally and he hoped that she would be his nurse again. And, although my husband had several wonderful nurses on Tower Ten - he specifically wanted to see her. He told me that when he thought things may not go well and he was scared of whether or not he would recover or continue getting sicker – he felt “that she held out her hand and lead him to recovery.” When my husband told me that, I cried. I was so moved by what he was saying because I felt that same way. I felt that Mousami was supposed to be our nurse during the hours and days that she was taking care of him.
I want you to know that we are not taking this nomination lightly. We are nominating Mousami for The DAISY Award because she is extraordinary. She is a healer. She treated my husband as a whole person and not just for his wounds. Personally, I am from a family full of nurses – my Mom being a kind one and my Sister being the smart one and my Grandma being the tough one. I have witnessed all of them throughout my life caring for people (before HIPPA) when I was able to go with them to work. In my opinion, Mousami is all of them. She is kind and smart and strong when she needs to be and all at the right time. She encouraged us and shared education. She eased our worries. She is exceptional. And for that, we are thankful. When I think of all our nurses at OSU and how hard they work – and how many nurses we need due to nursing shortages immediately and in the future years it is refreshing and reassuring that with all of the challenges and demands nurses face, there are still nurses who impact families in the way that Mousami impacted mine. From the Patient’s family to Mousami and Tower Ten --- THANK YOU for taking care of my husband as a whole person. Most importantly, THANK YOU, for saving my husband’s life.