Providing full service extraordinary care
While recovering from a recent procedure, Joan Sun got to know Michael Miller, or as she calls him, “nurse Mike.”
He was kind and she could tell he knew his stuff when it came to working in the cardiac cath lab. What she didn’t know was that Miller’s skills extend beyond the hospital walls.
On the day of her discharge, Sun was waiting for a friend to arrive to get her and take her back home to Norfolk, Nebraska. About a block away from Durham Outpatient Center, her friend’s vehicle hit something, resulting in a popped tire.
“When she got to me, she was riding on the rim,” says Sun.
Traffic was becoming more congested around them in the circle drive of Durham Outpatient Center.
Instead of waiting for Sun to call for roadside assistance, Miller jumped into action.
“Mike told my friend to get the ‘donut’ and her jack and then he got down on his knees and changed the tire,” says Sun. “Someone behind me said, ‘now that’s customer service.’”
Knowing that Sun and her friend were hours away from home, Miller figured they wouldn’t know who to call or where to go, so that’s why he jumped into action.
To make matters worse, it happened to be raining on this day.
“We were praying that he had a clean pair of scrubs to change into,” says Sun.
After a few minutes, Miller had the spare tire on and directed Sun and her friend to a nearby place to get the tire fixed before they headed back to Norfolk.
“Getting to change a tire is a change from my regular duties here, but it was gratifying in that the patient will remember how well taken care of she was by Nebraska Medicine,” says Miller. “I also have to thank the entire cardiac cath lab holding room staff that covered for me while I was doing the tire changing adventure.”
For Sun, her experience at Nebraska Medical Center was a memorable one, but not for the popped tired. Instead, she takes with her the memories of the extraordinary care given to her by Miller and the rest of the staff she encountered.
“From the minute I entered the hospital, I was treated like a queen,” she says. “It’s a hospital filled with heroes!”
