Amy Taggart has touched many patients’ lives in a positive manner, but the one that sticks out the most in memory is a patient named C. C had a history of stroke and was non-verbal. Most people that dealt with him didn’t understand that he wasn’t deaf and that he wasn’t unable to communicate – he just couldn’t verbally.
This all changed when Amy was his nurse. Amy built a rapport with C that opened him up. Through compassion and patience she was able to communicate with C. Amy was quick to let the rest of the staff know that C was able to communicate and that we should get to know him.
It turns out that C was an architect and a very intelligent man. Amy was able to get C out of bed and walking the unit. He was smiling where there was gloom before. C became very popular with the ICU staff. Through Amy’s work and suggestion, the ICU “adopted”. Amy kept the rest of the staff updated after his discharge as she continued to visit and advocate for him.
Amy has spent many Sundays and evenings taking C simple things such as clothing or toiletry items. This may seem like a small thing to someone reading words on paper, but if you could have seen the way C’s face lit up when Amy came to see him…..it would leave YOU speechless. There was definitely a strong bond between this young lady and this elderly man – one built from compassionate care that changed his experience and maybe his future.