After being treated in the Neurology ICU, my mother was moved to a 3rd floor room where she was recovering from pneumonia. I was down from Indiana to be with my mom for a week - alone because other members of my family had to go home. The pneumonia became septic and my mother had to be moved rapidly back to ICU. I had never experienced a "code" or the discussion of "DNR" and I was devastated. I was alone in the ICU waiting room, crying and waiting for news about my mom. Virginia, who was mom's nurse on the 3rd floor, came in after her shift was over and talked with me for an hour. She shared her experiences with her own parents' death. Talking with her really helped me to deal with my own fear.

All the nurses at Emory are exceptional, but Virginia's willingness to share from her own life helped me through a very rough personal moment.