A 25-year-old female was found unconscious at home. She was brought to our ER and transferred to the ICU. The evolution of her progress was discussed with her family and the projected outcome was unfortunate but clear, she would never return as the daughter the family knew.
The patient was an organ donor and her family wanted all her organs donated. Dawn stayed and explained every step to the grieving family, no matter how often they asked the same questions. Dawn explained every instrument, sound, and machine. When it was time to transfer to the OR, Dawn asked to stay after her shift to accompany the patient and the family to the OR. She prepared the entire team in the hallway to express to the family the gratefulness and respect they had for this difficult time.
We are a community hospital, and this does not happen very often, but Dawn, as well as her colleagues, met this challenge with compassion, understanding, and empathic expertise. This surely envisioned what teamwork and respect of our core values are all about.