My mother had just had open heart surgery and had been on the regular patient floor for a day and a half and had repeatedly been given a medication that she was having a very adverse reaction to. I was very concerned about my mother and if she would recover. Tressa came on duty, and from our first interactions, I could tell that she would give my mother excellent care. She fulfilled her duties with care and precision. She always went above and beyond to make herself available to my mom. She even comforted me when I was feeling very overwhelmed and concerned about whether my mother would recover. She was compassionate and steady.

In previous shifts, with other nurses, I needed to stay there to make sure that my mom received her pain medication on time, as she couldn’t communicate her needs very well. And some of the other nurses were too busy to give my mom the attention she needed. Tressa knew what my mother needed before I asked for it. One evening I entered her room, and her medication had been given at the exact time, her room was tidied, everything was up to date on the board, and my mother was propped up in bed, sleeping comfortably. It meant so much to me that Tressa went above and beyond in her level of care for my mom. Because of the precision of her care, I felt so assured that my mother was receiving excellent care. I knew that I could trust what Tressa told me.

She was knowledgeable and took what I told her about my mom into consideration but did what she knew was best, based on her knowledge and experience, and helped me feel good about how everything was progressing at the same time. Tressa exudes competence and the exact qualities that I would want in a nurse who is caring for me or one of my family members.