The essential parts of who I am are my children;
is my granddaughter, my husband,
my friends, my neighbors.
That's part of my life story, you know, where I live and yeah, I just-- that's
what's healing to me.
And people touching.
Not being afraid to touch somebody that's different. Yeah.
We have to treat the whole patient.
You have to get to know that person.
And for there to be a successful plan after they leave here, you have to know
Where are they going? Who are they gonna be with?
What's their living situation? So those questions all have to be asked.
We're not just the disease, we're not the brain tumor;
we're not the rehab. We are a human being who needs to have--
and must have-- attention from multiple directions.
The Patient Center Care is a big focus of ours on the unit.
And everyone is focused on that now in order to make sure that the patient knows
what's going on, they're involved, you know, their families' involved.
And are we incorporating them? Are we treating them the way we would
wanna be treated, in a way that the patient's gonna have a better outcome.
The nurses' more important job is to listen, to sit there in silence
and develop relationships and educate them, and make them feel secure not scared.
Mentally, I just feel fragile sometimes; very, very vulnerable.
You're at the mercy of others, so to speak. You wanna get out in the bathroom and you
can't by yourself. And if somebody goes by to check in on me,
then I'm gonna be okay.
Here they come, and I'm gonna be okay.
And I'm gonna be able to sit up in my bath because somebody hear me.
Respecting another human being and being there and allowing a part of yourself
and getting a part back from them makes this career so special.
When it comes to, you know, the staff and patients, everyone's human.
So everyone needs the same level of attention. Everyone has a life outside of work,
everyone has a life outside of being in the hospital.
My body wants to, automatically, get off on the edge of the bed in the morning,
put my clothes on and go start my car and go somewhere. And it's automatic.
And then, I'll wait a minute, put my foot on the floor and oh it's like, this does
not support me. So, oh, there's something wrong here.
Oh, that's right. I had brain surgery two weeks ago.
This sucks, right? And ouch, it hurts.
People—they're here. They've already lost some sense of
control, there's anxiety. Besides their medication and besides their
assessments that we do every day, you are there to support them and you are there to
be their advocates.
They are the part of you that's missing.
You know, whether it be surgically, physically, emotionally.
That that gets to be really important that they become on many levels, the part
that is no longer present.
And a dependency that's also needed from them, and the gratefulness that we have,
you know, the gratitude. Crazy good, it's crazy good.
And you can't- nobody can measure it.
It's like, you know, when the nurses would come in and be happy and jovial,
and show up for you and- I mean- it just, it makes the day lighter and anyone is light,
and you heal.
I give my all every single day. I always look at that human being that's
in the bed and take away the disease, and take away the pain that they have.
And I put myself in their shoes for one minute and one day they were healthy,
and one day they are able to walk to the store, and one day they were able to go on
vacations and share the moments that I share every day and they can't do that anymore.
And what a special moment that I've shared with this people, and what
a special job that I have that I can give myself to them and what an honor it is to
serve them.