What do you call your "greatest" compliment?

6 I have been referred to as MANY things over the years!
Smart , efficient... and some terms not printable on this site! Recently, I had a co-worker and a family member describe me as compassionate. Not an easy trait to maintain in the current nursing environment!
Truly, the highest compliment I can think of.

And what is yours?
When a coworker asks for me to take care of their loved one. Nothing tops that.

When a patient says "I wish more nurses were like you." Makes me feel all fuzzy inside.

shortly after graduation, i was working on an ortho floor and the scariest, meanest, most intimidating, crabbiest, most difficult surgeon i ever had the misfortune to work with, suddenly appeared before me and asked if he could speak to me.trembling in my shoes, i said, "of course."he told me i had been his mother's nurse today and he and the family felt i had taken care of her as though she had been my own mom instead of "just another patient." she had remarried and her name was different and since he had just become free to visit her, i never made the connection and i'm not sure anyone else knew either because that's what the family had wanted.

I had been a nurse for about 8 months or so and our nursing supervisor called up to the floor to tell me that her mother would be coming up from the ER shortly and wanted to make sure that I would be the one taking care of her that made me feel great..

"You're the kind of nurse I want to be when I get out there" - said to me by an older student nurse whose mother I cared for.

A little old lady thanked me for being there and told me I treated her as if she was my own grandma. :-)

when you're on your way to a college football game and the siblings of the kid being operated on happen to see you walking by the hospital and run out n hug you!!!!! (and your own kids, with you, just smile cuz they know...cuz same thing happened @ the mall a few months before). second was.., past ceo (or something of that nature) from your hometown happens to need a visit to your current ER (different state).,,,remembers you, & is totally greatful of the care given his wife, and then you get a RAISE!!!! out of nowhere..never did try to figure that out, just was thankful. ;-> BUT THE KIDS HUGS ALWAYS are the greatest compliment!!!!

Only as student but...Patient told my instructor that had I not told him that I was a student he would never had known. Told her I was professional with all my interactions with him and that I knew my stuff

I had a 60 something yr old patient who was very interesting. we had good conversations even though he had serious medical issues going on simultaneously. in fact, that particular day, all four of my cardiovascular stepdown pt's were critical. As i left his room for the last time he said: "You are such an enigma"

when a patient asks if i can be their nurse again the next day or on their next visit

The 2 that stand out most for me were during my preceptorship in Pediatrics.-I was so scared to have an oncology kid and of course my first day I had 2. I was doing 3 days in a row and the parents of one boy kept telling me how great I was. On my 2nd or 3rd day I poked my head into the room to check something really quick, they couldn't see me (they were in bed B and the curtain was pulled forward) and I overheard the mom telling another nurse how GREAT I (by name) was. That I was very professional and was so good with her boy. She said she admired the kind of questions she had heard me ask my preceptor and that I learned them quickly, and I appeared to truly have a desire to learn and care for her boy. She said she had had several nursing students during their stay but that I stood out.-Also during my preceptorship I had a Spanish speaking couple and their baby. There were lots of questions regarding whether vaccinations had been received or not and when. The Director for Infectious Disease came onto the unit because they were trying to investigate whether any of it had to do with the pt acquiring his diagnosis. I went in to help interpret (basic questions). I didn't really know this Dr. was the the director, I just knew they were from Infectious Disease Dept, but I brought her up to speed on the patient and what they had told me (no one else had been able to really speak with them). We spoke to the parents together and that was that. I went to care for a pt and when i came out of the room another RN pulled me aside and told me that she heard the Dr talking to my preceptor about me saying that I was so professional in my entire interaction with her and the family, that I was very knowledgeable

- When I had a patient who was critically ill, ask specifically for me to be her nurse 2 months later, she remembered me by name.- When my colleagues tell me they want me to take care of them and their family members.- When I get a letter from the DON saying that a nurse who's mother was a pt credited me for saving her mother's life.