Jacob Veyette
March 2022
Jacob
Veyette
,
RN
Intensive Care Unit
Ascension Saint Alexius Medical Center
Hoffman Estates
,
IL
United States
He placed his hand on my shoulder and let me clutch his forearm. He never left my side. I'll always think of him as my gentle giant. His compassion and gentle manner were matched only by his proficiency.
A short while back in the Intensive Care Unit, a woman and her son were compelled to make a final heartbreaking choice on behalf of their dearest loved one, who was beyond any hope of recovery. It wasn't much of a choice, just the only one. But still, it fell to them to choose. As they struggled with the decision and their pain, Jacob Veyette, R.N., stepped forward, determined that mother and son wouldn't bear the awful burden alone. He'd stand with them to the end and take some of the weight of their grief on his own shoulders. And for this kindness and support, they've asked that he be given this DAISY Award.
The patient was their husband and father, and his long battle with cancer was undeniably lost. Lung inflammation and respiratory damage were irreversible, and the choice they had to make was between a prolonged and invasive intubation or a sedation protocol, which would ease his suffering. Who wouldn't wish or hope for just a few more days or hours with someone you love, when the alternative is so bleak? But still. The suffering and its continuation were all his to bear.
In her letter of nomination for Jacob's DAISY Award, the patient's wife wrote, "Jacob stood by me and my son that difficult night as my beloved husband of 45 years slipped peacefully away. He placed his hand on my shoulder and let me clutch his forearm. He never left my side. I'll always think of him as my gentle giant. His compassion and gentle manner were matched only by his proficiency. Despite my state of mind that night, I recognized him as an exceptional nurse. And I'm in a position to know - I'd been a nurse myself for 44 years, and nursing professor for twenty-eight. He's a giant of proficiency and compassion."
The need to care for those who suffer is so strong in us that we naturally turn to those left in grief at a patient's passing, and tend to them as well. Jacob's example illuminates the great value placed on our sense of compassion. We can never forget that grief is a pain as profound as any other, and it calls to us. Jacob answered splendidly.
The patient was their husband and father, and his long battle with cancer was undeniably lost. Lung inflammation and respiratory damage were irreversible, and the choice they had to make was between a prolonged and invasive intubation or a sedation protocol, which would ease his suffering. Who wouldn't wish or hope for just a few more days or hours with someone you love, when the alternative is so bleak? But still. The suffering and its continuation were all his to bear.
In her letter of nomination for Jacob's DAISY Award, the patient's wife wrote, "Jacob stood by me and my son that difficult night as my beloved husband of 45 years slipped peacefully away. He placed his hand on my shoulder and let me clutch his forearm. He never left my side. I'll always think of him as my gentle giant. His compassion and gentle manner were matched only by his proficiency. Despite my state of mind that night, I recognized him as an exceptional nurse. And I'm in a position to know - I'd been a nurse myself for 44 years, and nursing professor for twenty-eight. He's a giant of proficiency and compassion."
The need to care for those who suffer is so strong in us that we naturally turn to those left in grief at a patient's passing, and tend to them as well. Jacob's example illuminates the great value placed on our sense of compassion. We can never forget that grief is a pain as profound as any other, and it calls to us. Jacob answered splendidly.