Helen Barnett, BSN, RN

Helen has provided truly extraordinary compassionate care to a palliative patient that was transitioning into a Hospice patient. With tears in my eyes, I feel compelled to nominate her. Helen shows kindness and compassion to every patient and this patient was no exception! During the course of her care, this patient told Helen about her childhood, her family, and how she grew up on 30 acres. She tells her about her best friend, a pig named “Willie”. She smiled and clapped with excitement, “Oh how I loved Willie! She tells of a few adventures and memories they shared. The next morning when Helen came in for her shift, she was assigned this sweet patient again. As the shift began, I learned that Helen had brought her a stuffed pig named Willie. As you can imagine, this genuine and thoughtful gesture led to lots of hugs and tears. It does not end there. As I walked in to assist the patient later, I heard her saying she was tired and ready to go home to God. I quickly completed my tasks and asked if she needed any other assistance. She doesn’t answer me but responds with, “Helen took such good care of me. I can’t leave her here all alone to go to God just yet.” During these trying times with all the stress of life, people like Helen remind us that kindness truly does heal. Thank you, Helen, for being such an amazing nurse and fulfilling our mission as a Christian ministry of healing!