Student Nominated: Caleigh Groff (Summer 2024 Bachelor of Science in Nursing Graduate)
Submitted by: Michigan State University, College of Nursing Faculty Member, Amy Crisp on April 10, 2024

Caleigh was caring for a patient with newly acquired paraplegia. As expected, the patient was struggling to accept their new physical limitations. For example, the patient’s father died during the patient’s hospitalization and the patient was unable to visit his father before his death or attend his father’s funeral. The patient verbalized feelings of guilt and sadness related to his inability to participate in the end of his father’s life. The patient had a wife and two children, one of whom was a preschool-aged child who frequently asked to visit the patient. The wife, who was pregnant with twins and the older child were able to visit, but the youngest child did not meet the visitor age requirements. The wife had to find childcare for the youngest child in order to visit her husband. This limited the frequency and duration of the wife’s visits. Caleigh felt that a visit from the young child would improve the mood of her patient and decrease the wife’s burden of finding childcare. With my assistance, she met with the Assistant Department Manager (ADM) of the unit to discuss the situation and advocate for her patient. The ADM thanked Caleigh for bringing this situation to her attention and agreed that an exception should be made to allow the youngest child to visit. The ADM took Caleigh with her to tell the couple that their child could visit. After meeting with the ADM, Caleigh noted an improvement in the mood of the couple, as they made plans for the youngest child to visit.