Ashley Allen
August 2022
Ashley
Allen
,
RN
Oncology
Baptist Health Deaconess Madisonville
Madisonville
,
KY
United States
While several people spent an enormous amount of time trying to help this patient, Ashley’s compassion and willingness to help was the final piece to this disastrous puzzle.
We have a cancer patient that had surgery at another facility. The patient had complications that were worsened by developing Covid and ended up with an ileostomy. The patient had a basic understanding but needed TONS of support with her care. Before discharge after her surgery, it was recommended that she go to Rehab, but the patient continuously refused, and was discharged home with a Home Care agency that is not part of our healthcare system. There was a 2-week delay in getting the patient the appropriate supplies. Every time she would come into our clinic, her ostomy would be leaking and an enormous amount of time would be required to assist the patient to stop the leaking.
On a recent Friday, the patient called one of our nurses stating she was going to run out of ostomy supplies by Saturday and didn’t know how to get them. The patient had an appointment with the Wound Center where she had the surgery, but it wasn’t until the following week, and we had no luck in getting in touch with them to see if they could help. Our Wound Center could not help as they currently do not have an ostomy expert. After exhausting every avenue, Ashley came to me and asked where the patient lived in relation to her home. Ashley stated that it wasn’t that far out of the way and would take supplies to her. When asked if she was sure, Ashley stated, “I don’t want the patient to have to sit at home with a towel over her leaking ostomy until she can come here, or to another appointment to get help and it’s not any trouble.”
At that point, supplies were obtained from our hospital, some simple instructions were printed, and Ashley drove the supplies to the patient’s home. The patient’s significant other greeted her at the door, took the supplies, and expressed their gratitude over and over. While several people spent an enormous amount of time trying to help this patient, Ashley’s compassion and willingness to help was the final piece to this disastrous puzzle. She could have kept silent, after all, it wasn’t even her patient, but as a team member who cares about ALL of our patients, being willing to drive supplies to a patient’s home just shows her compassionate and caring nature as not just a nurse, but a human being.
On a recent Friday, the patient called one of our nurses stating she was going to run out of ostomy supplies by Saturday and didn’t know how to get them. The patient had an appointment with the Wound Center where she had the surgery, but it wasn’t until the following week, and we had no luck in getting in touch with them to see if they could help. Our Wound Center could not help as they currently do not have an ostomy expert. After exhausting every avenue, Ashley came to me and asked where the patient lived in relation to her home. Ashley stated that it wasn’t that far out of the way and would take supplies to her. When asked if she was sure, Ashley stated, “I don’t want the patient to have to sit at home with a towel over her leaking ostomy until she can come here, or to another appointment to get help and it’s not any trouble.”
At that point, supplies were obtained from our hospital, some simple instructions were printed, and Ashley drove the supplies to the patient’s home. The patient’s significant other greeted her at the door, took the supplies, and expressed their gratitude over and over. While several people spent an enormous amount of time trying to help this patient, Ashley’s compassion and willingness to help was the final piece to this disastrous puzzle. She could have kept silent, after all, it wasn’t even her patient, but as a team member who cares about ALL of our patients, being willing to drive supplies to a patient’s home just shows her compassionate and caring nature as not just a nurse, but a human being.