Barka is the type of nurse we should all inspire to be. She's a compassionate person who loves what she does and always goes above and beyond to make sure her patients are receiving the care they need. Recently, she had a very sick patient who received devastating news about his cancer prognosis. Upon hearing this news, the patient and his wife felt it was time to go home and his oncologist agreed.
Barka did everything in her power to make this discharge happen. The hospitalist who had taken care of this patient had already left for the day, so Barka spoke with the supervisor to coordinate with the hospitalist to come back in to do the discharge paperwork so this patient could go home to his family and break the news.
During my interaction with Barka in front of the patient and his wife, I could see how emotional and stressed they were but Barka put them at ease. They expressed great thanks to Barka for understanding their urgency to leave and praised her efforts and her overwhelming compassion.
Barka stayed well past her shift to assist with the discharge paperwork, helped the oncoming nurse de-access the patient's port, and made sure the patient and his family had everything they needed before she left for the night. The patient felt Barka was the angel his family needed after receiving unexpected, heartbreaking news. I feel Barka always exemplifies extraordinary compassion and sensitivity.