Eric was assigned to take care of a baby who had no family or caregivers present. In morning report, we were told she fussed often because she wanted to be held. While nursing staff tried to give her extra TLC, they were overly busy with their other patients on the units. The baby was all alone. At first, Eric was very hesitant to care for a baby and admittedly voiced his fears to me. In fact, his words to me were, “I don’t know what to do with a baby.” I showed him how he could hold her, just talk with her, and foster trust. Throughout the day, as I was checking in on students, Eric remained in the room with this patient. Every time I checked in on Eric, he was holding her, rocking her, talking to her, and providing a reassuring presence. He spent the entire shift at this infant’s bedside.

The following week at clinical, the baby remained on the unit, and we were told she still had not had any family in to visit her. While Eric was not assigned to care for this patient, he asked if he could again go in to see her. After completing care on his assigned patient, he spent time at this baby’s bedside and rocked her, talked with her, and was again a calming and comforting presence.

While much of our job is focused on the nursing process and the hands-on skills we provide in caring for patients, another important part of our job is providing holistic care and caring for all patients' needs. Eric met the aspect of holistically sound care and personified pediatric nursing during clinical. He went above and beyond in providing care and comfort to this patient. The extraordinary compassion he showed served as an example to his peers, was noticed by RN staff, and certainly made a difference in the life of this patient.