The family of N would like to recognize the Lehigh Valley Inpatient Hospice Nursing Team. N was a patient for over a month until he passed away. During those 5 weeks, he endeared himself to the staff who did so much more than just provide nursing care to him. Under the nursing leadership of Brigid and Jordan, the entire team of nurses and CNAs took extra time to comfort him, to be alert to his physical and emotional needs, and to do things for him which made him happy and at peace. They anticipated his needs before he even realized that he had them.

N struggled with multiple medical conditions from birth and as his neurological specialist told us, he would probably die shortly after his birth. He surprised us all and made it through each medical challenge until 2019. When N's cardiologist recommended Hospice Care for N, we really didn’t understand the full implications of Hospice. In retrospect, N probably understood the meaning of Hospice far better than we did. N's care team recommended a few days of in-patient Hospice to stabilize him and get his medications in order. But N has always done things on what we affectionately termed “N time” and this was going to be no different as he remained in his new home for one day short of 5 weeks. As N weakened further, we prayed that he would be blessed with a peaceful, happy end to his life. God answered our prayers with LVH Hospice team at 17th and Chew. He loved his new room and it was calming not only to him but also to his family. N was surrounded by the love and support of the nursing team.

The nurses whom we are highlighting are Brigid Darrah (who N affectionately named “Little Brigid”) and Jordan Herr who supported him overnight and was a wonderful support as we remained with him on his final night. Both nurses were always there when he felt scared, ready to give him a hug when he needed it and to joke with N as well as with his family when we all needed that little boost of hope and happiness.

A wizard was haunting N about week 4 and he was terrified. Even though he felt safe and secure in Hospice, the wizard was hurting people he loved and cared about. Everyone was giving strategies to deal with the wizard. We stayed with him and closed the door to keep the wizard out. As we were leaving one evening while the wizard was haunting him, I shared his anxiety with Dawn who was on dinner break at the time. She immediately stopped eating and told us not to worry, she was heading right back to him to watch a Christmas show and to assure him that all would be ok.

The entire team worked with us to have “parties” in the family room. On Christmas Eve we had dinner with N in the family area. This was our personal family tradition, so it meant very much to all of us.

On his final alert night, N was able to share gifts with his nieces and nephews which was a personal goal of his. He also told Brigid “When I get out of here, I am going to get you a present.” Little Brigid and the rest of N's Hospice Nursing team (Jordan, Kim, Annie, Brigitte, and Dawn), this is the present that N wanted to give you. Thank you to all of you, he loved each and every one of you. You gave him a wonderful gift - a beautiful, loving final five weeks of his life. Thank you from N (and the rest of his family). The nurses and CNAs had the opportunity to get to know N during this time and he endeared himself to them. Throughout the time he was a patient, the staff never seemed to have an ‘off day.’ Their care was loving and consistent and it went far above and beyond what was expected. We were also glad for the support of Brigid and Jordan when they attended N's funeral service. Our entire family was so grateful to see them there and knew that N was thrilled to see “his team” present.