This is a story of compassion and kindness. It is a story about going the extra mile. It is a story about preserving quality of life. And most of all, it is a story about many disciplines, but one team, banding together through true collaboration in an effort to make a difference in the lives of a very specialized population of patients in the midst of circumstances beyond their control. These circumstances have forced these patients into placing their lives and their literal hearts in the hands of others.
T was transferred via an emergency flight from an outside hospital in New York State for evaluation of Total Artificial Heart implantation. T and his wife handpicked our hospital as the number 3 ranked Total Artificial Heart program in the nation to transfer their care to, entrusting us as an experienced facility to continue his care. This patient was then emergently taken to the operating room upon arrival to the facility and woke up with this device which had been explained as "big, blue machine.'' Next to his bed was 400 lb. thumping metal contraption which he had never seen or even imagined but would alter the remainder of his life. T slowly physically recovered but suffered a mental impairment. Upon arriving on Main 10 Central he was depressed, often somnolent and stoic with a flat affect. He was scared and questioned his own mortality which, in turn, made his wife question whether or not she should have moved forward with the decision to preserve his life in this way. Over the course of four months, T started to become more involved in his own self-care, he began to engage with staff, became more socially connected toward his healthcare team, and turned the corner toward embracing his "Big Blue" on his journey toward his new heart.
Transplant pharmacist, Patti Uber, PharmD, and social worker, Megan Maltby, MSW, enlisted the help of nursing by approaching Audrey Spradling, Main 10 West/Central RN, BS, PCCN, to guide the psychosocial care of the long term, high risk, and low volume patient population. He taunted staff, Megan, and several nurses, like Audrey, that he formed a rapport with as an avid New York Giants fan who found himself in Washington Redskins territory. Megan, Patti, and Audrey began discussing and planning to watch the game together with a catered tailgate in the Main 10 West Conference room on the first Sunday the two teams would play.
In the meantime, T often would brag to staff about his ability to walk several laps connected to his Big Blue machine and challenged Megan to a race. Because of the rivalry between the Redskins and the Giants the Main 10 West and Central staff planned a special event for the day of the tailgate in his honor to boost his moral and to take on his challenge. The nurses got the entire interdisciplinary team to participate in the First Annual Total Artificial Heart Race. It was decided that both the patient and Megan would have a timed race where they both would be connected to and pushing Big Blue machines while walking a number of laps T was regularly able to tolerate, including one lap where they would push the 400 lb. machine themselves, as T regularly did for therapy. Safety rules were put into place in order to protect the patient and the machines. No running was allowed and each participant would start on opposite ends of the unit walking in a circle so to avoid running into one another. Their individual times would be compared at the end of the race to establish the winner. This event was complete with a Draft day two weeks before the Redskins/Giants game in which T and Megan simulated an actual draft. Prior to the draft, Audrey consulted and conspired with T about who would be the best selections for his team (i.e. the nurses and care partners that regularly walked with him and pulled his device). Team members were selected from a list of nurses working that day and other members of the interdisciplinary team including pharmacy, attending physicians, nurse practitioners, physical therapists, and care partners, some of which came into work to participate on their day off. The draft was timed by Audrey for each pick and Patti played the NFL-themed music on her phone as background in order to intensify it.
During the two weeks between the draft and the TAH Race each team strategized with their team members, practiced timing their laps, playfully taunted one another and comradery ensued. This gave T something to look forward to, boosted his morale, encouraged his avid physical therapy to a new level, and gave him an opportunity to engage with his care providers.
We enlisted the help of another long-term total artificial heart patient, F, to sing the National Anthem for the event. Nursing supplied him with the music and lyrics so that he could have two weeks to practice and arranged for music therapist, Melissa Owens, who was regularly involved in his care, to practice with him. He gleefully accepted his role in the event and expressed to his nurses and healthcare team that allowing his participation in something as special as this helped him to realize how much we love and care about him and that we were "just like family" to him.
The day of the race, T supplied his team with blue bandanas for each team member (Audrey Spradling RN, Kirsten Westberg RN, Barbara Mann RN, Kelle Newsome CP, and Jan Mizell PT) and hung "Team T" signs all over his TAH. Megan supplied Redskins jerseys for each of her team members (Dr.Melissa Smallfield, Dr. Daniel Tang, pharmacist Patti Uber, Allison Knapstein VAD RN, and Kelsey Oostdyk, RN). The help of T's wife and the 7-year-old daughter of Megan Maltby were enlisted for timekeeping for T and Tamika Robinson for timekeeping of Megan. All nurses and care partners were on hand for the race and readily available to provide support and encouragement for their coworkers in the race as well as assist with and provide care to the other patients on the floor.
Before the start of the race, the National anthem was sung by F accompanied by Melissa from music therapy complete with a microphone and speaker. Many patients, long-term, and short- term came out into the hallway to witness the occasion. It truly allowed patients and staff to come to together in solidarity and have a positive experience aside from illness, difficult diagnoses, and tough days at work. The participants were positioned on opposite corners of the unit; T on Main 10 Central and Megan (with a driveline taped and strapped on with an abdominal binder) on Main 10 West.
The flag was dropped and the race began. Dr. Tang led the first lap pulling Megan's device, while T and Audrey took off on the other end. Each team member pulled one lap and the racers pushed one for a total of six laps. The race ended with a victory for T and Team T by a whopping 7 SECONDS! T was awarded the first ever TAH trophy created by the unit secretary, Holly Spraker. Team pictures, with permission from all patients involved, were taken with the nurses, interdisciplinary team, and even Dr. Tang. For hours after the race staff members and patients lingered in the hall not wanting to lose the spirit of the day. All patients and staff members were invited to the conference room to watch the game and enjoy a catered lunch. The fun continued as the rivalry lived on during the football game.
T's wife reported that "the events that led up to the race allowed you all to see a side of him that had been bottled up since his transfer." T reported that "this is one of the things I will never, ever forget about my experience here in the hospital". F said that "it is stuff like this that allows patients to feel like they are a member of a family when they are far away from home." Robert from Dietary stated, "this was the most fun work day that I have ever had." Dr. Smallfield reported that it "rejuvenated me and reminded me of the reason why I love working here." Audrey stated that "this day solidified a bond within the nursing team and interdisciplinary staff who we often have difficult days with and allowed us to relax, have fun and remember that we're all here for the same purpose, to make people's lives better and brighter."
Megan said, "this experience allowed the non-nursing team members to see what nurses go through every day, to walk in the shoes of patient and nurse for a brief moment in time and to further appreciate the hard work that nurses do." Several nurses who worked that day reported that "it was the best day at work they had ever had."
This is a true example of the character of our team. We came together equally as collaborators, providers, professionals, and human beings to uplift our patients regardless of their situation.

Team Members honored with this DAISY Team Award:
Megan Maltby, RN
Audrey Spradling, RN
Kirsten Westberg, RN
Barbara Mann, RN
Jan Mathis-Mizell, PT MS
Tamika Robinson
Dr. Melissa Smallfield, MD
Dr. Daniel Tang, MD
Patricia Uber, PharmD
Kelsey Oostdyk, RN
Melissa L. Owens MT-BC, NMT
Holly Spraker