Recently, on the med surg unit we had an extremely challenging patient who had undergone surgery for a tracheostomy. This patient had come to us following an extended stay at CMMC where he had convinced them to let him go home where he was only able to stay for two days before he was completely overwhelmed, and returned to the emergency department at Rumford Hospital.

Andrea Child took care of him for several days and was, along with many other staff members, called to the room multiple times a day. One day, when the patient's transfer to a skilled bed facility fell through yet again due to problems coordinating with the facility, the VA, and the patient's family, he became extremely frustrated and announced that he was just going home and stated "I will take care of things myself." The patient was unyielding in his thought process and would not listen to staff or his family. He had made up his mind and no one was going to change it. After waiting awhile for the situation to cool down, Andrea went to see the patient and was able to convince him to stay with us one more night giving everyone time to make the appropriate arrangements so that he could have a safe and smooth transfer the following day to the skilled facility where he would continue his rehabilitation.

Andrea truly is all about safe, reliable, high quality care for every patient, every day.

Thank you Andrea for sharing your gift.