Alanna was caring for an individual who had been in our ICU long term. We had come to know the patient as he had been with us for over two weeks. The patient had become more and more ill as his time passed in the hospital. He ultimately ended up intubated. Alanna was caring for the patient when his stability took a turn, and he became gravely ill rapidly. She kept up by critically thinking nonstop about ways to help stabilize him again, all the while also attempting to figure out what made the turn happen in the first place.

Unfortunately, things continued down this path for the next 8 hours. She continued to work so hard to stabilize him all the while she proned and supined the patient three different times in hopes to solve the issues. As the patient grew more and more ill and had more decompensating episodes that were continuing to last longer and increasing in frequency, she was right there in the room nonstop, being a patient advocate if I ever saw one. She was bound and determined to get a loved one to the beside so the patient would have a familiar voice before he succumbed to his illnesses. She called the family multiple times, all while continuing to never leave the patient's room due to her constant administering different treatments from medications, CRRT, and repositioning. After multiple updates with the family members, the sister, two brothers, and dad were all on their way. Alanna continued with her hard work while we waited for the family to arrive and when we thought the patient was not going to be able to hold on. Alanna put on his favorite type of music, held his hand, and told him he was going to be okay.

When the family was close, she went down to the ER entrance to wait for them so that there would be no delay in getting to the bedside ASAP. When the family arrived, her compassion and caring nature took over for the family. She comforted, talked them through what was currently happening, and assured them when they were ready what the process would be to help him peacefully transition off all the medications, CRRT, and ventilator, all while they all cried together.

Alanna was compassionate, caring, and raw with this patient and the family during her time with them. Alanna was a top notch example of a patient advocate on this day. If someone ever finds themselves in a position where they might not make it in time for their loved one, I hope Alanna is on the other side of the phone for them because they should know that their loved one will be taken care of and reassured through the whole process. ​