September 2018
Erin
Zilliox
,
RN
HSD- Emergency Room
Truman Medical Center
Kansas City
,
MO
United States

 

 

 

My husband has dementia. One night at approximately 7 pm he wandered away from our home. He did not take identification or his phone so we couldn't track him down. We contacted the police and had several friends and family looking for him. None of the hospitals had anyone fitting that description. After a couple of hours, we went ahead and issued a "Silver Alert". After only 30 minutes we received a phone call from KCPD saying that he was at TMC. We rushed to the hospital and were so thrilled that he was safe and being taken care of. If it wasn't for one of the nurses putting the pieces together and calling the police we probably wouldn't have known that he was okay.
He was disoriented and unable to provide much information about himself. He was dehydrated and agitated but a nurse made it her duty to explain things to him, ensure he was comfortable and kept him calm. This nurse made sure we knew every step that was being taken to get him rehydrated. He became agitated several times during his treatment but she remained calm, determined, speaking softly and reassuringly to him which helped him calm down. He was in a tremendous amount of pain after walking 15 miles and the nurse worked quickly and to alleviate his pain.
We are thankful to both Jerica and Erin. Our family considers them to be angels and we cannot say thank you enough to them both for taking such amazing care of my husband. You each went above and beyond to ensure the best care was given to him until he was reunited with family. Thank you!