What's the nicest compliment you've gotten as a nurse?

[NurseNinja1990]

Just thought we could all use a warm and fuzzy topic. Nursing can seem like a thankless job at times, and when you do get that rare validation from a patient or another staff member it sticks with you. For me, I'll always remember how I felt when a CNA came up to me and said "We all feel safer with you around".

So how about you? What's something nice that a patient or another staff member said that stands out to you?

[Davey Do]

This is an excerpt from a situation which took place in December 1993:

" An elderly male patient, currently in the hospital, was being discharged Christmas Eve. He had been hospitalized as a result of an exacerbation of his chronic cardiac condition. The Attending Physician would only authorize discharge if a nurse would assess the patient within 24 hours. No Visiting Nurses were available to assess the patient and open the case.

I reviewed the patient information and his home location. I could, relatively easily, open the case on the way to my midnight shift. It would be a long night, but I foresaw little difficulty.

'Little difficulty' is an understatement. I experienced the joyousness of families comforted by the visit of a medical professional to oversee the care of their loved ones during this 'holiest of holidays'.

It was an experience I love to recall.

One morning, a few days after Christmas, I received a telephone call in my office. The call was from the daughter of the elderly man whose case I had opened on Christmas Eve. She called to inform me that her father had passed away, just that morning. But she didn't call only to give me news of his passing. She wanted to let me know how much she and her family appreciated my involvement in their lives. Had I not been able to provide Skilled Nursing services for her father, he may have not been able to be discharged from the hospital. He may have not been able to spend his last Christmas at home with his loved ones. For this, she was very, very grateful.

I hold that appreciation in my heart to this day."

[Dikibo, BSN, RN]

I went for a function one day, long before I tied the nuptial knot, and then a young man started shouting and like calling some one he probably knows "Florence" and I did not bother to turn even when people drew my attention to him that am the one he was calling.

I said I am Gloria and not "Florence" .With much reluctance on my part he came very close and said I know, but you are Florence Nightingale you took care of my mum.

My jaw dropped.

Oosh how on earth will I know that I could be renamed.

[EmergencyNurse2012]

While working on an Intermediate Cardiac Unit, I had a patient that was prepped and went into the Cardiac Cath lab for a "routine cath" but came out without any stents and a diagnosis that led to open heart surgery two days later. His wife was very tearful and panicked. She stated she was afraid of losing her husband. I spent time and comforted her and the family that was present. The patient confided in me later that night, after everyone went home, that he was terrified that he was going to die on the table without reconciling with one of his sons. We talked for a while and why he and his son were estranged. He said I gave him the courage to call his son. He and his son reconciled the following day prior to his open heart surgery. The Cardiac PACU and ICU were very close to my unit and he had requested I come see him after he was out of surgery. When I went into his room, he looked dead, had five IV pumps with four channel each, was swollen everywhere. I almost didn't go into the room as I didn't think he would even know I was there and I didn't want to interrupt the work his nurse was doing. The nurse welcomed me in, I went into the room, held his hand and whispered his name and that I was so grateful to hear the surgery sent well. He squeezed my hand, opened his eyes, said my name and told me that he knew I was there before I went it because, "I know your smell, can feel your care from across the room". I actually laughed at the smell comment and said "Oh, that's the 12 hour shift on me, SORRY"! He told me that he will never forget me and what I did to get him and his son reconciled.

The other big compliment that I received was from a retired surgeon. The ER doctor, having worked with this surgeon, warned me before we entered the room that the patient was going to be a challenge (he referred to him as formerly being "god" in the hospital and that he would be a curmudgeon) I actually love challenging patients and we hit it off immediately. I purposely took a nurse extern into the room to teach her how to deal with difficult patients and keep her cool. I had her start his IV while he and I bantered. He ended up telling me and my charge nurse (who knew him and his reputation and wanted to ensure he was happy with the care I was providing) that I was "among the best, a keeper, very knowledgable". He told us I needed to go along up to the floor with him and be his nurse on the floor, which I where I put my foot down and told him that ER nurses notoriously do not do well on the floor and he would have to behave himself upstairs. I went to leave the room after thanking him for allowing me to take part in his care and he held his hand out to shake hands, he ended up giving me a hug and thanked me again. Working in an ER, compliments are few and far between because we are often caring for people and families on the worst days of their lives...

[Lisaberg]

I was working as charge nurse on a very busy acute psychiatric unit and there was an older gentleman who was extremely depressed and didn't get out of bed or tend to his personal hygiene. We were short staffed and several days had passed and he had not bathed he refused all attempts to assist him. Myself and 2 excellent mental health techs spent a long time convincing him to allow us to assist him with a shower he refused initially but he was lying in his own waste and I just couldn't leave him like that. It took most of the morning but we eventually got him up showered and dressed in clean clothes. He cried but eventually allowed us to help him and at the end of my shift he timidly wheeled his wheelchair up to me and took my hand and quietly said thank you with tears in his eyes. It really touched me and was one of those moments that make it all worth it. It was worth scrambling to catch up for the rest of the shift.

[humerusRN, BSN]

I was taking care of a rather annoying patient. He had a complex history, was a bit of a frequent flyer, but he had had a complicated ortho procedure done that day and was requiring even more attention than normal. I work in pediatrics, so he was a younger kiddo - and his parents tended to peace out at night and leave him alone.

I spent a LOT of time in there with him that night. I would tell him.... "Listen, I can sit for a few more minutes but I have to get some other stuff done, ok?"... and I'd leave and he would call me back in almost immediately.

At the end of the night he hugged me and told me "Thank you for caring about me."

Dear Lord, kid - way to make me cry!!! :)

I was told by a family just last week that it was obvious that I love the work that I do. That, to me, is a great compliment.

[Kitty_Forman]

Recently admitted a patient, in a lot of pain. She came up to the floor accompanied by her friend, who happened to be a highly respected senior nurse I know from another unit.

After we got the patient settled and she was getting ready to leave she told me she had checked to see who was working that shift and had hoped that, out of eveyone, I would be her friends nurse. And that she could now go home and relax knowing she was in good hands.

[KarenMS]

I had a baby spike a 103 temp, HR 200 and I was a clumsy idiot and didn't flush his gtube extension before pushing his Tylenol. So it sprayed everywhere and I wasn't sure how much I actually got in. I was feeling like such a failure and just scooped him up and started rocking him. His heart rate dropped by 40 bpm and he calmed down. The RT that was with me through the whole thing just said "look at his HR...*thats* nursing." I always think back on that and smile.

I had a woman tell me last week that I have a gentle touch, and that was a nice one too.

[ClaraRedheart, BSN, RN]

From a patient "I feel like you have taught me so much more about my condition and how to care for myself than I've ever known! Thank you!" Made me feel good, mainly because sometimes I feel that I'm not the best at teaching. . Made me happy!

[AngelKissed857, BSN, RN]

Had a patient in her late 90's, sharp as a tack, had surgery that left her unable to raise her arms much for her lengthy hospital stay. She was a retired PHN/NP. Worked full-time till she was 85. Anyway, she was a little grumpy, hair greasy, etc. Somehow I had a little extra time, gave her a full bedbath, used a shampoo cap for her har, changed her bed and gown, etc. She felt so much better, and said to me, "You're really an old school nurse!" I don't know if there was a higher compliment she could've offered me, I cherish that one.

[carman1969]

Back in the dark ages when I was a student I was going about one of my clinical rotations. While passing a patients room, not mine, I noticed a female Who was sitting on the edge of her bed rocking and muttering to herself. Being an inquisitive student I walked in and asked her if there was anything I could do for her. She just kept repeating. "I just feel strange . I just feel strange." I started taking vitals and while taking her BP I noticed that each time I took it the pressure kept increasing. And upon auscultation she had a very irregular heart sounds. The patients nurse was at lunch so I reported my findings to the charge nurse and finished clinical shift. Fast forward two weeks and I was in my second to last nursing course. I received a phone call from one of my nursing instructors that I must come to the Western campus immediately. When pressed she wouldn't give any details just that I was required to come into the college. There I was a 39 year old male trying for a career change, thinking I had done something wrong and I was being thrown out of school. It was thirty minutes later when I walked into her office to discover it was full of people, including the campus dean and multiple people I could not identify. It turns out that the previous patient I has assisted had been immediately take to surgery and had been saved. It also turned out that it was the wife of the hospital director. The charge nurse and all of the others working on the floor had written a two page letter to the campus dean. They were there with a check covering my last two semesters and an offer of employment when I graduated. I took it as my first position and ten years latter I ended up as Head nurse of the unit.

[Have Nurse, ADN, RN]

I was in my second year as a L.P.N. on a post op unit for spine surgeries.

A lady from across the sea required some extra T.L.C. in addition to her routine needs. The type of surgery she had was extensive and quite painful. I spent extra time with her, teaching her how to move, going slow, deep breathing, taking time, etc.

Her husband was an important diplomat. He insisted that I would be the only one who cared for his wife on evenings.

During her stay, that is how I was assigned.

[Ranger1dog]

I received an 18 year old transfer from the ICU one night and during the report, something just did not feel right. It wasn't. I intervened in getting labs, giving meds, I V fluids, applying ice and updating the physician as needed until he came to the bedside, 30 minutes later. Over next few hours, the neurosurgeon stayed at the bedside due to the young patients condition, which was septic and critical. The neurosurgeon asked me if I wanted him transfered back to the ICU , but stated he really prefered that I continue to care for him. I continued to care for him that night and over the next week.

The neurosurgeon went to my managers and told them that I saved that young mans life that night. He stated that there was no doubt in his mind that the interventions I did before his arrival at the bedside were the interventions that prevented a catastrophic event. He stated that I was an exceptional nurse and that the hospital was lucky to have me.

Best compliment ever from a surgeon.