Alex, on 4 east oncology, was the primary nurse for patient BK. This is a woman with metastatic breast cancer, who is awaiting placement to a SNF, and her stay here has been long. I have known BK for the last few months and even though she has not felt well, and does not get around like she once did. She always came in with her nails done, hair fixed and makeup. She has been feeling down and not herself the last few weeks and has been asking about getting her hair done; unfortunately, we did not offer those services while in patient.
When rounding this morning BK was sitting up in the bed, smiling and overall her mood and attitude had changed. When I took a closer look I noticed that her nails had been painted a bright pink. I commented to her how nice she looked and she was just beaming. She stated that her nurse had painted them for her yesterday. Because she took the extra time to do something that has nothing to do with her duties as a nurse, she changed the way BK felt.
Painting her nails made her feel more like herself and overall put her in better spirits. I think this is why many of us became nurses so that we could have this kind of impact on our patients. I want to acknowledge her for going above and beyond and taking the extra time to make her patients feel special.