Recently we received a phone call from the hospital operator of a man who was having suicidal thoughts and home alone. Charge nurse Claudette took the phone call and immediately began speaking to the patient on the other end while gathering information that would help find him and get him the help he needed. She informed the manager on duty immediately to call the police while she kept him on the line and getting the information.
While speaking compassionately to the suicidal man Claudette was able to get important information and relay it to the manager who in turn relayed it to the police dispatcher. Claudette spoke with the distressed patient for over 45-minutes while trying to keep him on the line and providing the police department important information to find the suicidal man and to make sure that the scene they were arriving on was safe.
Claudette showed a lot of patience and compassion. There were multiple times that the suicidal man was getting agitated with the wait time and was threatening to harm himself due to the length of time it was taking the police officers. Claudette was able to calm the man down and keep him on the line thus creating an atmosphere where the suicidal man felt safe and comfortable enough to stay on the phone and not do anything to harm himself.
Police were able to arrive approximately 45-minutes after the initial contact with the suicidal man and were able to take him to the appropriate treatment facility for him to get help.
Claudette's compassion, knowledge, experience, and overall nursing skills helped save a desperate man's life. Claudette truly deserves this DAISY Award for her courage, commitment, compassion, determination and knowledge of the handling of a suicidal patient's call from an outside line.