A patient of Donna's died unexpectedly in the OR. The unassuming family was told in the waiting room by the surgeon, and the surgeon left. The patient's wife collapsed in the hallway, screaming. Donna did not know the patient had died but heard the wife screaming and ran to her. Donna picked the patient's wife up off the floor and comforted her. Donna contacted the Nurse Manager, Social Worker, and Clergy and ordered a comfort cart from dietary.
Donna prepped the ICU room for the patient and received the patient's body from the OR. She cleaned the patient and made him presentable for family viewing and mourning. She provided extraordinary emotional support to the family during what was surely one of the most shocking and horrible days of their lives and provided kind and dignified pre-surgical and post-mortem care to the patient. Donna did all of this while dealing with her own feelings in regard to the loss of her patient, with whom she had established a nurse-patient relationship.