Jessica was taking care of an elderly Romanian patient who came in with respiratory problems. This patient was placed on a Bipap machine to improve her oxygenation. In the course of the night, the patient's conditions worsened and she became more agitated and restless. The patient was trying to communicate with Jessica, however, because of the Bipap mask and the language barrier, Jessica was unable to understand what she was trying to say. Jessica recognized that using the interpreter phone would not work because the patient would not have tolerated it and ultimately it would have caused more harm.

That night, Jessica was aware that we had a Romanian employee working in EVS so she called the house supervisor to ask if we could ask that employee to help out with translation. Jessica was aware of the translation policy and was not asking the EVS employee to translate anything medical but rather just to help her to understand what her patient was trying to express.

With permission from the House Sup, our translator introduced herself to the patient and asked her what we could do to help her. The patient said to her (translated language) "call my daughter because I am dying!" Jessica then immediately contacted the patient's daughter and within 45 minutes, the family was at the bedside. Within 2 hours, after the patient made the request to call her daughter, she passed away peacefully with her daughter and family at her bedside.

I feel that through Jessica's actions and awareness as well as the help from our EVS employee, the patient was allowed to pass away peacefully surrounded by her family. Their actions also allowed the family to perform their traditional rituals. Despite their loss, the family expressed their thanks to Jessica and the EVS employee that they were given a chance to say their goodbye to their love one before passing.