Demonstrating Kindness and Compassion to Patients and Families: A patient from 1 VPS coded and passed away while being prepped for a cardiac procedure.  The husband of the patient was distraught and unsafe to go anywhere.  They had been married for 48 years.  Erin had come in on her day off to help the unit with discharges.  She sat with the spouse to comfort him. After a while she received permission to go through his phone contacts to try to find a friend in the area to come be with him.  Erin was able to reach out to a good friend of the spouse, whose husband happened to be in the hospital as a patient just a few doors down from where they were sitting.  Erin, with permission from the spouse, went in and explained the situation to the friends.  They immediately asked her to bring the spouse to them, where they cried together and supported the spouse.

Providing Skills Care to Patients and Families: Erin monitored the situation and made sure that the spouse was in a safe place, and that it was not causing distress to his friend who was a patient in the hospital.

Informing and Educating Patients and Families: Erin helped the spouse understand that a funeral home could be called in and the spouse did not have to come back.

Offering a Voice of Hope and Love to Patients and Families: Erin stayed with the spouse for over an hour comforting him and making sure he was safe.

Touching the Lives of Others: This story touched many on the floor including co-workers and the spouse and his friends.  Had Erin not been there to take the initiative to find a friend for the spouse in his time of need several things would not have happened.  By taking this initiative, the spouse had someone to take him home and wait with him until his family came from out of state.  He also had someone willing to help navigate the VA death benefits process to streamline that for him.  Most of all Erin made sure he was safe.