Jennifer Turner
June 2019
Jennifer
Turner
,
RN
LBJ- 3A Medical Surgical Unit
Harris Health System
Houston
,
TX
United States

 

 

 

Studies show that when a patient is hospitalized, family involvement plays a significant role in providing emotional and psychological support to the patient during their hospitalization. Imagine moving to a new state and in transit, you lose all your medications. Subsequently, by not having access to your medications you end up in the hospital for over a month. Well, that scenario happened to one of the patients on the unit.
Due to an extended stay, the patient became a part of the team. Many staff members noticed that the faux leather jacket that the patient was wearing was peeling and shedding all over the floor. You can see the trail at the nursing station. One day Jennifer noticed that the jacket was very worn. Without mentioning it to anyone on the unit, she purchased a brand-new winter coat for the patient. When the patient left the unit for his daily walk, Jennifer went into his room and placed the coat on his bed. When the patient walked back into the room and saw the jacket, he was so appreciative. He could not believe that anyone would do that for him. He asked which one of us was kind enough to purchase the coat and Jennifer never said a word. The patient then said that he would take his old coat down to the bus stop and give it to someone who didn't have a coat. He stated that he wanted to bless someone just like someone had blessed him. Thanks, Jennifer, for being an extraordinary nurse.