Jon-Erik Saplan
May 2021
Jon-Erik
Saplan
,
RN
Psychiatric Adult and Senior Unit
Loma Linda University Behavioral Medicine Center
Redlands
,
CA
United States
Jon did something very simple, he identified the one thing that the patient still had an interest in - her drawings - and he complimented her on them.
Working at a behavioral health hospital can present many unique challenges. The needs of the patients are not always as visible as they are in a medical facility and can sometimes be missed if a nurse does not take the extra time to really see and hear their patient. Jon-Erik is a nurse who is always on the lookout to see and hear those who have been entrusted into his care.
There was one particular incident that I will always remember. A young woman came into the hospital one night. Her hair was in tangles, her eyes focused on the ground and her shoulders drooped as if they held the weight of the world. Her arms were covered in fresh cuts that she had recently made to end her life; sadly this was not the first time she had tried to end it. As a nurse you always address the physical needs of a patient which Jon had done already however, he did not stop there. Seeing her depressed state and identifying that this young lady was barely hanging on to her life, Jon did something very simple, he identified the one thing that the patient still had an interest in - her drawings - and he complimented her on them.
This may have seemed like a simple gesture of kindness, which it was, but it also instilled hope into a hopeless heart. For that brief moment, you could see a glimmer of light in her eyes that just may have been what saved her life. This set the groundwork and trust needed for this patient to be successful in treatment. This is one of the many times in which Jon’s kindness and compassion saved a patient from physical harm. Though our patients do not suffer from Diseases Attacking the Immune System, as DAISY stands for, the disorders our patients face attack every aspect of their lives. Jon’s ability to connect with patients on a clinical and human level instill hope into those patients who feel as if all hope is lost and peace into the minds of those who suffer.
There was one particular incident that I will always remember. A young woman came into the hospital one night. Her hair was in tangles, her eyes focused on the ground and her shoulders drooped as if they held the weight of the world. Her arms were covered in fresh cuts that she had recently made to end her life; sadly this was not the first time she had tried to end it. As a nurse you always address the physical needs of a patient which Jon had done already however, he did not stop there. Seeing her depressed state and identifying that this young lady was barely hanging on to her life, Jon did something very simple, he identified the one thing that the patient still had an interest in - her drawings - and he complimented her on them.
This may have seemed like a simple gesture of kindness, which it was, but it also instilled hope into a hopeless heart. For that brief moment, you could see a glimmer of light in her eyes that just may have been what saved her life. This set the groundwork and trust needed for this patient to be successful in treatment. This is one of the many times in which Jon’s kindness and compassion saved a patient from physical harm. Though our patients do not suffer from Diseases Attacking the Immune System, as DAISY stands for, the disorders our patients face attack every aspect of their lives. Jon’s ability to connect with patients on a clinical and human level instill hope into those patients who feel as if all hope is lost and peace into the minds of those who suffer.