A patient arrived to the preoperative area for emergency surgery. This was an extremely urgent situation and time was of the essence. The patient did not have the opportunity to process what was happening, and needless to say she was in severe pain, scared, crying, and in complete shock. In addition to those concerns, the patient's regular surgeon was out of town and she was unfamiliar with the surgeon who would be performing this operation.

Cherokee immediately recognized that this patient was in desperate need of something more important that a surgical intervention, she needed spiritual and human intervention. She sat on the patient's stretcher, took her hands, looked her in the eye and offered to pray with her. The patient immediately said yes. Cherokee said a very eloquent prayer and hugged the patient after. With the patient clinging to Cherokee you could see the anxiety leave her face, and she then felt comfortable going forward with the surgical procedure. While Cherokee transported the patient to the operating room she continued to reassure her that she was in excellent hands. Cherokee stayed at this patient's bedside through the period of induction of anesthesia and was with her while she woke up.

As operating room nurses there is not the prolonged time to develop patient relationships, but Cherokee took the few moments she did have and made them count.

Cherokee knows the importance of slowing down for a minute to really assess what a patient is feeling. She is aware that often times healthcare providers forget about assessing the patient as a "whole" person, and she saw this as an opportunity to share her experience with her coworkers. She created a power point presentation on the importance of spiritual care and partnered with Chaplain Larry to inservice the surgical department staff.