I've always heard that there is "someone for everyone," but I never knew how true that statement was until we met "F". F was a patient of ours for around 6 months. He was homeless and had multiple medical problems including substance abuse and a traumatic brain injury. He was hostile, chronically confused, difficult to handle, and injured a few nurses on the med-surg floors before being sent to STICU for restraints. F had 11 children, none of whom wanted anything to do with him because of his troubles. He had no insurance, and no facility would accept him. We treated F with the respect all of our patients receive, but it was frustrating. Everyone who entered the room was cursed at, and if you approached the bed he would attempt to lash out. His doctors slowly stopped rounding on him: he was healthy, but could not be placed due to his preexisting brain injury which caused him to be combative. He remained in our unit in restraints and became a part of our routine.
Just when we thought everyone had given up on F, in came Hannah Disney. One day, Hannah was assigned to care for F and there was a baby shower occurring in our unit. She decided to take F a slice of cake with his lunch. Immediately, his eyes lit up. For the first time since he'd come to our unit, he said: "Thank you". Of course, it was thank you followed by a curse, but it was a start. Hannah made it her personal mission to break through F's tough exterior. Over the course of his stay, she gave F a birthday party, decorated his room for Halloween, and kept his bedside table full of treats. Hannah taught all of us that F associated food with happiness, and always made sure he received special meals from the cafe. F began to ask the staff when she would be back, and we obliged by assigning her to take care of him as often as possible. Slowly, thanks to Hannah's personal care and insistence that we should not give up, F became less hostile. For the last month of his stay, he no longer needed to be restrained. She was able to walk with him in our hallway and eventually he was able to be transferred to 5 South where the case management team found him placement in a nursing home. Hannah's care did not end there: she asked the STICU staff for assistance, and delivered sweatpants and shirts to the nursing home for F, kept him stocked on his favorite treats, and generally made sure that he was ok. She reminded him to be nice to the nursing home staff, and he eventually regained his independence and was discharged home.
I truly believe that without Hannah, F would still be restrained in our unit. It was through her compassion, dedication, and perseverance that this difficult patient was able to regain his independence and rejoin the community. Hannah is a shining star in STICU, and we are proud to honor her with this DAISY Award for her excellent care. As it turns out, the way to a man's heart really is through his stomach, and I believe that F will keep Hannah in his heart for the rest of his days.
There's an update to this story: F is back at SMC, and Hannah has visited him several times. His face lights up when she walks into the room, and he says "There she is!" F is a new man. He is happy, nice to the nursing staff, and uses polite language. STICU is so honored for Hannah to have this DAISY Award. She truly exemplifies the meaning of DAISY!