Nicest Thing a Patient Ever Said

“What is the nicest thing that a patient has ever said to you?”
Here is what nurses answered.
Punctuation added/corrected for clarity.
 
“We loved you so much we’d like you to come home and be our nanny. We couldn’t think of leaving our baby with anyone else.”
 
Patient's daughter gave me the book 5 people you meet before you go to heaven. Wrote in it: “Thank you for being my dad's last angel to help him pass with love and dignity.” I cried for days....
 
“Thank you for everything, I really felt like you were my mom today.” (Labour & Delivery)
 
They loved my bedside manor and wished me all the luck in the world. I had been off of orientation for a week at that point. I had just got my license.
 
Shift change- bedside report - as we left the room a visitor entered and stopped. She looked at me and then at the patient and she said to me - "You probably don't remember me, but you were my favourite nurse. I was here two years ago and you made all the difference. I'm so glad you're her nurse tonight!"
Live for those moments.
 
I was saying goodbye to a patient because she would be discharged before my next shift. She was on the phone to her daughter who asked who she was talking to. She said “our favourite nurse.” The daughter must have said my name because she responded “of course!” Still makes me smile.

A patient hugged me and thanked me for not judging her and for taking the time to listen, explain what to expect, course of action, etc. Said it was the first time she didn’t feel like a room number.
 
“You look like you’re in your 20s!” 😂
 
“I’m blessed to have you as my mom’s nurse. Are you sure you can’t work tomorrow?”
 
As a CNA I had a patient’s wife tell me if she had a million dollars she would give some to me to go to nursing school.
 
“I can tell you don't do this job for the paycheck. You really care.”
 
“Can I adopt you?”
 
"We love having you as our person, you are always there for us." I walked in after the doc had started talking. They stopped him mid-sentence and stood up taking turns giving hugs and then said it. ❤
 
“You’re my angel.”
 
“I wuv you.” The little guy couldn’t pronounce his letter L yet ❤.
 
"Don't ever leave me." I almost cried.
 
“God really knew what he was doing when he made you a nurse.”
 
I love when I tell the patient or the family I’m heading home and I say I’m not back tomorrow and they are like “awwww, okay....” lol

“You are my guardian angel today!”
 
Perfume set, surprise birthday dinner, and food for our entire staff.
 
“You are an awesome nurse.” Made my day.
 
“You saved my life.”
 
“You’re good looking. I should take you up to the altar”.....ok maybe kinda weird too. Lol
 
A patient I delivered sent me flowers on her sons first birthday...so thoughtful!
 
“You light up my life. When you come in with breakfast in the morning, I know I’m going to have a great day.”
 
"You have changed my life. I am so happy."
 
I discharged a patient to hospice. We got to know one another pretty well and I shared with her my experience when my mom passed away in hospice. When we said our goodbyes she said: “I will be sure to tell your mom what a fine job she did raising you.”
 
Gentleman sent a card to my Dad a few months before Dad died, telling him what a “fine man your son is,” adding “you can be very proud of him.”
 
“You’re the first nurse I feel safe with.” Took me by surprise.
 
“When you walk in my room, I forget that I’m sick.”
 
I diagnosed a pancreatic cancer in a 21 year old and she sent me a card at Christmas that year calling me her guardian angel and that I saved her life. Today she is in full remission. I will never forget that for as long as I live.
 
"She knows what she is doing and knows how to talk to us. She's going to make a great nurse." It was the proudest moment of being a student nurse.
 
"Thank you, that didn’t even hurt. My mommy is going to be so proud of me, because I was brave." She was 4. I was her Forensic Nurse that conducted her medical-forensic examination. I will never forget her.
 
“You brighten my day!”
 
“You really seem to care about us.”
 
“You saved my child's life.”
 
A patient thanked me for helping her "maintain my dignity" in front of her friends who were visiting her. It's also nice when they tell me they hope that I never lose my sense of humour!
 
I have a few patients that always tell me they’re glad when I’m their nurse for the night. But I once had a patient go into a flashback as he woke up from surgery. He was a vet with ptsd. I’m not sure what it was about me but for some reason he knew I was there to help him. When he came around he said he thought he had been captured but knew I was there to rescue him. That I made him feel safe.
 
“You’re an angel sent from heaven.”
 
"Thank you for being a calm in the middle of my storm," said to me from the spouse of a dying resident.
 
"I really feel like you care about me as a person."
 
"Oh, thank God it's you!" Wife of respiratory distress patient as they came through ambu doors (they'd been there a few times).
 
“You’re my angel.”
 
“I could never have done that without you.”
 
Calling me family.
 
“I’m glad it was you who was there for her final moments.”
 
“My nurse save my life.”
 
“You're like a daughter to me.”
 
“You treat us like we are normal people.” 🙂
 
I had the sister of one of my patient's kiss my hand and thank me for caring for her brother. He was dying at the time. The hand kiss I don't think I'll ever forget.
 
“You were the only thing that got me through.”
 
I had a family member hug me and thank me for being as good to the families as I am to my patients, especially her sister. Patient was a mid-50s Down Syndrome with Alzheimer’s.
 
“Thank you, you made a difference.”
 
Thank you is the best.
 
“God put you in my life for reason.”
 
A sweet patient gave me a hand-made heart and wanted me to know that I made a difference. I keep it hanging in my car as a constant reminder that I do make a difference.
I have a cross a patient made hanging in my car.
 
I had a couple of my patients nominate me for employee of the month. That really meant a lot. I primarily work geriatrics with memory disorders, Alzheimer's, dementia, Parkinson's psychosis, etc. Mostly with vets and their spouses.
 
“I'll miss you.”
 
A lady once told me she felt like she was being cared for by her mom. That made me so happy🌷
 
“Are you even old enough to be doing this?” (I was like 50...😂)
 
"You are an angel!"
 
I had a dialysis patient tell me people are put on this earth by God for a reason and that my reason was to be his Angel.
 
While working as a hospice nurse on a very long call the wife was so thankful for my care of her husband and towards morning made me the best breakfast ever. She was so sweet.
 
"You treat us so good"
 
"Thank you! It is because of you that I am standing here even if I do have a sore chest," said a couple of days after I helped code him and he received a pacemaker.
 
“You’re the only one who really listened thank you.”
 
“Thank you for being here.”
 
A patient of mine actually wrote me a letter about how much she. ❤
 
Had two specific that really touched me. One was the son of a patient who told me that I had given his family 21 days with his mom that he wouldn’t have had otherwise. The other was simple thank you in French after the devastating earthquake in Haiti. We had just given her what was a death sentence there... I held her hand while the docs told her she had breast cancer
 
“Thank you for being you.”
 
“Oh, are you leaving? But you are back tomorrow, right?"
 
“Bye nurse Ariel! I love you!” said a 3 year old, who literally thought I was Ariel because of my red hair.
 
“Thank you. You are a Godly man.”
 
“My mom waited for you (to pass away). You were the only one who talked to her and made her comfortable.”  Not so much what was said but the wanting to hold my hand etc...makes me take a deep breath and slow down at that moment and feel for the patient.
 
I was working on Christmas on a skeleton crew. I went to help a gentleman with his CPAP and he thanked me. "You could have stayed home and spent Christmas with your family, but you didn't. You came here to be the family to those of us who don't have family anymore. You are a real nurse--you're in it because you love people."
 
“For the love of GOD, why can’t we clone you?”
 
Hospice nurse... a woman dying held my hand and said, "I'm glad I got to know you and your beautiful soul before I died." Still makes me want to cry. 🙂
 
“Will you please stay and be the one to take him off life support? I need you.”
 
“You have become a part of our family.”
 
“You were MADE for people”
 
Placed my name in the obit for my patient who passed away.
 
I loved when family would just simply say “thank you,” and it was genuine. It was also really sweet when I would see old patients out in the public and they say: “I’ve missed you.”
 
"You’re here I can go home tonight and not worry.”
 
“You’re the best nurse I have ever had--you need to tell the others how to take care of me--I miss you so much!!”
 
“Thank you.”
 
I was told I was their guardian angel ❤️
 
“You’re a modern day Florence Nightingale.” Granted, the patient was gorked out and delusional but hey, I’ll take it.
 
I had 2 different patients write letters to my employer stating how much they liked the care they received!! One even mentioned that I took time to explain all their meds to them!!
 
While giving bedside report a patient gave me an angel in resin that he has carried with him for 10 years, since he was paralyzed from neck down. He said in all of his many visits to the hospital I had been the best nurse ever. Made me cry in front of everyone there. It is one of my most cherished possessions.
 
“I see why God made you a nurse ❤”
 
Thanked me in the patient’s obituary.
 
One went to Human Resources and told them about the care they received and said I deserved a raise.
 
“Thank you so much!” I’ve heard it lots and it always makes me feel like I’m really making a difference!
 
“You put the humanity back into healthcare.”
 
Last week I got told how pretty I was. She also had Alzheimer’s and forgot who I was 5 minutes later but it was still nice 😅😂
 
After a patient died, her grandson hugged me and said, “It is okay. You took great care of her.” Moving because he needed comfort, yet he comforted me.
 
“I know you’ll always take care of me,” from a patient who then passed away.
 
“Thank you for helping me accept this new health issue.” (Was a colostomy)
 
That I saved their life. Hearing that reminds us why we deal with all the crap.
 
“You were the one who saw ME.”
 
I have one lady who gets me cards for every occasion. Mother’s day, Christmas, birthday etc. Too many nice compliments to list! I just love her!!
 
That they love me and they really meant it too. They were the only ones that I heard those words from in weeks and it was a great feeling.
 
That my voice sounded like Lea Salonga (the one who sang 'A Whole New World.')
 
I can know by the way you care for me, you were called to be a nurse.
 
After my retirement, on an admission to ICU at least 6 months later, told her nurse (my bff) that I was a wonderful nurse! She remembered me. Wasn’t directly to me, but I felt it was a capstone to my career.
 
A patient’s husband, who also has a lot of medical problems due to CA told my manager “can we clone her?”
 
Wasn't said to me but to have a patient slow code on you for an entire 12 hour shift in cardiac ICU then watch him walk out of the hospital to go home a week later. Nothing feels better than watching all the hard work pay off.
 
"I think you were born to do what you do, you're so patient"
 
That I made a difference in their lives!
 
Just last night my patient told me that if she gets better she will take care of the sick just the way I took care of her. She asked me “is this how it is when God stop at this place?”
 
When they call me an "Angel." I'm far from it, but love it
when they say it. :)
 
I feel better knowing your here, now I can go home and rest
 
That I am a blessing to them.
 
"Thank you."
 
I spoke at his funeral and wife told me she loved me.
 
I had a patient who I had to call a stroke alert for. Next day went to work, another co-worker told me the family was looking for me. I was so nervous. Family found me and just gave me a really big hug, and thanked me for saving their mother/aunt/grandmother and how much they appreciated me being her nurse. 💗
 
“I hate hospitals, but I would come back if you are here.”
❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️
 
“You are a true gift from God and you’re doing what he made you to do!”
 
“Thank you for everything you’ve done. We appreciate it.”
 
“You saved my life.”
 
I'm currently pregnant, one of my patients told me, "I'm glad you're going to have a baby, we need more people like you in this world."
 
“You are family.” 😕
 
“If I could go back and choose I would choose to have cancer all over again because I got to meet all if you!”
 
“You were my angel.”
 
They named their baby after me!
 
Giving me a hug and kiss on cheek on discharge. 😀
 
“I can relax and not worry knowing that you are here.”
 
I had a patient that I had to change his new colostomy bag literally every 15 minutes during my shift until my relief showed up. I accidentally mentioned that I was hungry as I didn’t get dinner. The patient’s daughter wanted to go get me food from anywhere I wanted for being so good with her dad.
 
Working in NICU, and helping the parents whose babies are hospitalized for months and months, it always gives me a warm and fuzzy feeling when they ask me if I'm going to move in with them when their baby finally goes home!
 
“I thank you for your help I will always remember you. You love what you do and it shows.”
 
From a NICU mom: "I can finally sleep at night knowing you are here... thank you."
 
I had a cancer patient’s wife decide to be a social worker because of the nursing care I provided them. She said that I made her want to help others the way I helped them. Best compliment anyone could ever give me.
 
She said I was the best nurse she'd ever had care for her, and she nominated me for a Daisy Award.
 
”When I see you I feel calm.“ I am a PNP with a neurosurgery service.
 
“Thank you for dumpster diving for my teeth.” He even gave me an orchid.
 
They saw me at Wal-Mart, came up and gave me a hug and told me about how well they were doing ‘because of’ me. (I’m an ICU nurse, this doesn’t happen often because our patients are heavily sedated.)
 
“I don’t know what I would have done without you!!!”
 
“Thank you so much! We love you. We are so glad you took care of our mom.”
 
"You have the hands of an angel." 64 y/o male s/p foley cath insertion.
 
I work in ICU and there’s so many parents that say they love me when they call or come in and it’s me looking after their baby. They say they feel calm knowing how much I love and look after their baby when they can’t be there xx
 
“You make this (chemotherapy) tolerable.”
 
How I was a Godsend to them.
 
My favourite is when a patient asks if you’ll be working the next day and you can tell they’re hoping the answer is yes. ❤️
 
When you say goodbye and they ask when you will be back.
 
A hug from a 3 year old who I had to hold down for 10 stitches in her head.
 
During a funeral of a beautiful patient of mine her daughter thanked me and said how grateful she was to have me in her mom's life the last year. That I took special care of her mother and her dad. It brought me to tears.
 
Your mom did a lot of right by you. You are a blessing.
 
The patient’s husband actually told my dad something about me, but my dad could never say it because he’d start to cry every time we tried to talk about it. 💞
 
"I have never had a nurse as dedicated as you are." I also got a star from that patient on our star wall.
 
A family member said, “I can go home and sleep knowing that YOU’RE her nurse tonight!”
 
A parent came out at change of shift and thanked me in front of all of my coworkers saying that he heard the conversations I had with his daughter and took notice of the patience and care I had with her and said I’m really good at what I do. She was an easy patient - pain meds, post op, IV fluids - but I still really appreciated hearing it. It is comments like that I go back to when I have bad nights.
 
When I worked hospice my black patient called me her white son. I cried when she passed away.
 
“I love you.” Spoken by a Hospice patient.
 
A woman wanted to adopt me as her daughter.
 
“If I'm just your age right now. I'll marry you in a heartbeat!”
 
Kind of a neat thing happened today. I’ve been a nurse 17 Years now, but today I ran in the hospice nurse who took care of my dad. I got to hand out the compliments today. Not a rare thing for me to compliment others, but I don’t usually come into contact with past caregivers. Hope I made her feel appreciated!
 
The mother of a patient was a poet and she dedicated a small book of poetry to me. She said I was a gift from heaven and I still get a Christmas card every year thanking me for her family.
 
“You have a kind smile.”
 
A patient I’d been caring for all day said: “You know, I know you are where you belong and Nursing is your heart because it shows in how you care for me.”
 
"I wish you were my daughter.”
 
“You are truly an angel.”
 
That their loved one ask for me and talked about my care before he passed away.
 
A patient with a terminal diagnosis held my hand and said she felt like God meant for us to meet. That he had put her on a journey to meet all of the best people, and that I was a part of that. (Instant tears)
 
“You're a beautiful young lady.” (Patient was blind)
 
Today my patient said that he would take care of me.
 
Although I knew we weren’t supposed to take gifts, I had a patient give me something that held a very special place in her heart. Although not “ill,” she knew something wasn’t right with her. She gave me a set of costume jewellery her previously passed husband had given her many years before. She told me she wasn’t telling her daughters because I was like a daughter to her. I could not turn that away.
 
I work for hospice. I have so many families, including the patient, tell me they love me like family (daughter, sister), before the family member passes away.
 
My friend and I are Peritoneal dialysis nurses and we had a patient tell us that seeing the 2 of us together is like seeing the sun rise and set on the same day. 😁
 
“Can we take you home?”
 
I got an offer of marriage.
 
A man wrote me a poem about being a flower in God’s garden. I took care of his wife.
 
That they were thankful that I came into their life.❤
 
“You’re a heaven sent!”
 
“You are the nicest nurse here. You are so kind to everyone.”
 
I had been a nurse about six months. I came to work and there was a bag in my locker with a gold metal wire angel holding a crystal in its hand. With a note that said for the ‘Angel you are.” No name. I still don't know who did it but made me feel like I was doing something right.
 
“There is something special about you, you aren't like the rest of the nurses here.”
 
My favourite patient said to another nurse that I was his guardian angel.
 
$1000 donation in my name to the nursing education fund.
 
A patient's wife came up to me crying and said, "I was praying to God to send an Angel to help my husband and he sent you.”
 
“You have been my best friend.”
 
You can be having a helltastic day and one sentence such as these will make you heart soar, your step quicken and your smile brighter!!
 
"You have a fat ass," from a spitfire elderly woman with dementia. When I told her it was better than a "bony butt," she replied, "I prefer my meat marbled too." LOL.
 
Five year old of grandson of a patient looked at me and tugged on his mother's pants and said "Oh mommy, is she an angel?" My heart melted.
 
“Thank you so much for taking of my mom and making sure that her last days were as loving and as pain free as possible.”
 
“I'm SO glad you are HERE, YOU make me feel safe.”
 
"It’s not true that angels only exist in heaven. You are an angel sent to help me and I’m very grateful.” 😰
 
“I had a 16 years old young lady having a baby! She attached to me during the 10 hrs labour asked me if I could be her stepmother. She lost her mom not long before and her Dad wants to marry me. He was there too and proposed to me. I was in shock. Sorry I can’t, I am married and have children.
 
“I'm NEVER coming back to this ER ever again!” (Unfortunately, he was a liar.)
 
I had a Patient’s mother who hugged me in tears and thanked me for I was the “first nurse who’s ever treated him as a human being.” Patient was narcotic dependent, psych, and was in and out of jail. I was shocked as I did not do anything but my job. I treated him as I have always treated all my patients.
 
“I bet you look great in a bikini.” Some days better than others, sir. Dirty old man.
 
A patient that went bad and had to be transferred to ICU. The doctor was being an ass. I was so upset with the patient not doing well and getting little support from the Dr that I couldn’t talk to the family. Another nurse had to and his family saw my face and could see I’d been crying after he was transferred and told her family “see to some people it’s more than just a job.”  So very true!!!! She got it!!
 
The day I lost a 9 year old boy to A.L.L., his dad said to me "you made it less painful to let him go, he died happy and it's all because of your kind heart and warm presence, so thank you." My heart still breaks each time I think of that little boy.

“This is your calling.”
 
“Thank You. You were really helpful and took such good care of all of us!”
 
I've been told so many nice appreciative things but the one that got me was when I was mentioned in their obituary...😭❤
 
“I ain’t never seen an ass like that on a white girl before... 😉”
 
I'm a student and I had a patient and their family say, "You are doing the right thing. You will be a great nurse." My patient then told me how happy he was that I was his nurse because he felt like I cared and wanted to listen and help him to the best of my ability. It was a good day for me.
 
“When you kiss my child, you kiss him as if it were you own child and that makes me feel good.”
 
“You are my angel!”
 
I had a patient once that had pancreatic cancer...had to have a whipple. After he went home and recovered he came back for a visit and brought me a beautiful plaque of praying hands that he had made...he told me I made him feel like he was going to survive.
 
That I was made for this (nursing) and it’s exuded through my smile and personality. On hard days, simple things like that make me thankful to be a nurse.
 
"You will always be like a part of our family!"
 
“Will you be my son’s godmother?” (She wanted him baptized before he passed away.)
 
“I am glad you came to work today.”
 
“I haven’t laughed like that in a long time.” Seeing them smile despite all the illness is why I do what I do.
 
I do home health. Patient transported to ED. The family texted me to say her mama wanted to know where I was. She wanted me to come.
 
“You remind me of my granddaughter.”
 
My patient, who is a priest, told me that he is against Cloning but if He could clone me, he would do it a million times!
 
“I knew your grandmother. She must be so proud of you in heaven.” 😭
 
My grandmother was a nurse and passed away while I was still in nursing school. Not long after graduation, on my first job, I took care of one of her friends for her entire hospital stay. As I pushed her to her car in a wheelchair after discharge, she looks up at me and says, "Your grandmother must be so proud of you. You are a fabulous nurse just like she was!" Best compliment ever! ❤️😭
 
I’m a mother/baby nurse. I take care of a lot of teenagers and teach them how to take care of their babies. One little mommy said “I just love you! You’re like having my mom here instead of a nurse.”  I said well, I’m both!
 
“The force is strong with this one!” Best complement of my career!!
 
“You really enjoy your job, don’t you? You’ve been so kind to her even though she’s made it difficult to be.”
 
“You’re like my own Family and I love you.”
 
“We could not have done without you.” Talking about childbirth
 
“You are my angel.” It makes your heart happy to be able to bless those who are sick and hurting.
 
Gave me her rosary just before entering hospice. Said she didn't need them anymore, she was no longer afraid.
 
“Want to go get a beer?”
 
That I was an epitome of a nurse -- very kind thing to say.
 
“You act like, walk like, talk like you love being a nurse.”
 
“When I was at my worst you were at your best. Thank you!”
 
Thank you for holding the hand of their dying family member since I was there and they didn’t make it back in time.
 
“You are an Angel of God, you listened to me when my own family abandoned me.”
 
“It’s easy to see you love you job. This is what you’re supposed to be doing.”
 
"I wish all the nurses here were like you. You care, they don't act like they care"