Kathleen Kasper
July 2016
Kathleen
Kasper
,
RN
Same Day Surgery Center OR
UPMC Mercy
Pittsburgh
,
PA
United States

 

 

 

Kathy has always exemplified what nursing is (or what nursing should be), there are many examples I could use, but this most recent one truly shows her compassion, dignity, and respect for others. Just after she punched in for her shift one morning, she noticed a woman clutching a wrap around her who seemed unsteady in her gait. As Kathy approached the woman, she realized she was crying. Kathy asked if there was anyone she could contact for the woman. The woman informed her she was trying to call her family because her son had just been killed and her husband wounded by gunfire. She told Kathy she was trying to get to the ICU waiting room as her husband had just gotten out of surgery. Kathy escorted the woman there, offering physical and emotional support. After Kathy's shift was over, she returned to the waiting room where the woman updated Kathy on her husband's progress and he would, in fact, need additional surgery. Kathy asked the woman how she was doing. The woman confessed to Kathy as she had left the house early that day to come in the ambulance with her husband, and she could only grab the wrap that was around her. She showed Kathy her husband's blood over her clothes that she had been trying to hide. The woman confided in Kathy that she could not go home and she had no money to stay at the Inn. Kathy told the woman she would keep her and her family in her prayers. When Kathy left the woman, she found a house telephone and proceeded to contact spiritual care to inquire about the Inn and their policies. Once Kathy was told the rate for a room, Kathy took $70 out of her purse and paid for two nights at the Inn. This is very typical of how Kathy gives of herself and service to her fellow man in need.