Penn Presbyterian worker creates safe space to show appreciation to nurses

PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) -- A worker at Penn Presbyterian Medical Center is on a mission to brighten the day of every patient and nurse she encounters.

Nina Roulac, who is a patient experience operations manager with Sodexo, knew she wanted to work in a hospital after the death of her beloved aunt, Dorothy.

She says the way nurses and patient experience staff treated her aunt inspired her and she wanted to give back in the same way.

"Because I loved her so much, and when someone came in that room and I felt like loved her the same way that I loved her, I knew I had to do something different," said Roulac.

Once she started working at Penn, she had the idea to start decorating both patient rooms and private spaces for nurses with flowers, electronic candles, and words of affirmation.

"I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel," read Lauren Baez-Perez off the door of her floor's restroom for nurses.

"The twinkly lights, that's my favorite part," she said.

The restroom is also called the "Just Breathe" room.

"When we go in there, there's like little reminders to stay calm, relax, don't freak out," said Baez-Perez.

It's a place to decompress. Roulac calls the spaces her "love letter" to nurses.

"They're there at our bedside, they're there at our darkest moments and I want them to feel love," said Roulac. "We leave candles, we leave get well cards, we leave little rose petals and flowers to make patients feel very special."

For the past year, Roulac's time in the hospital has been more than just work, as her father was fighting a terminal illness.

As she spent time at his bedside, she was reminded of the impact nurses have. This is how she's thanking them.

"Tomorrow's going to get better, it's going to bloom differently, it's going to look differently, it's going to be brighter," she said.