Harold Puerto
April 2017
Harold
Puerto
,
RN, CMSRN
Patient Care Coordinators
Vidant Medical Center
Greenville
,
NC
United States
A patient on BGSU was supposed to officiate a wedding ceremony in Kinston, N.C. Unfortunately, not only was Kinston flooded as a result of a hurricane, but the patient was admitted to VMC due to a fractured ankle and DVT. So, he wasn't able to get to the wedding to officiate the ceremony. For the future happy couple, this just wouldn't do. It was essential that their preacher not only officiated, as he's a close personal friend but also that they get married on the expected date, which was the bride's parent's 50th wedding anniversary.
The charge nurse worked with the patient's primary nurse, along with Harold Puerto and another hospital coordinator to arrange and hold the ceremony here at VMC. They went down to the Maple Room beside the cafeteria and re-arranged the room and chairs to create an aisle for a wedding. The patient mentioned that they were expecting about ten people total to come but much to their surprise, when they brought the patient down to the Maple Room to officiate the wedding ceremony there were almost forty people present to celebrate with the happy couple! The charge nurse agreed to return to the unit and cover the primary nurse's other patients for the ceremony. The patient's physician agreed that he could go off the unit but that his primary nurse had to monitor him continuously since he was on special medications. The primary nurse remained downstairs with the patient for the ceremony so that he could be monitored and another team member stayed as well to help transport him back upstairs.
Today when I rounded on the patient he was blown away by how much the team did to make this happen. This was so important to him and the couple. The bride plays the piano in his church and he said she's an amazingly talented woman. He stated that he felt they really went above and beyond and it meant so much not only to himself but also to this couple. He then shared with me a picture on his Facebook page of the happy couple and himself from Saturday; the Bride had written under the picture- "If the preacher can't get to your wedding - you take your wedding to the preacher!"
The charge nurse worked with the patient's primary nurse, along with Harold Puerto and another hospital coordinator to arrange and hold the ceremony here at VMC. They went down to the Maple Room beside the cafeteria and re-arranged the room and chairs to create an aisle for a wedding. The patient mentioned that they were expecting about ten people total to come but much to their surprise, when they brought the patient down to the Maple Room to officiate the wedding ceremony there were almost forty people present to celebrate with the happy couple! The charge nurse agreed to return to the unit and cover the primary nurse's other patients for the ceremony. The patient's physician agreed that he could go off the unit but that his primary nurse had to monitor him continuously since he was on special medications. The primary nurse remained downstairs with the patient for the ceremony so that he could be monitored and another team member stayed as well to help transport him back upstairs.
Today when I rounded on the patient he was blown away by how much the team did to make this happen. This was so important to him and the couple. The bride plays the piano in his church and he said she's an amazingly talented woman. He stated that he felt they really went above and beyond and it meant so much not only to himself but also to this couple. He then shared with me a picture on his Facebook page of the happy couple and himself from Saturday; the Bride had written under the picture- "If the preacher can't get to your wedding - you take your wedding to the preacher!"