One of our patients with COVID-19 has been on the ventilator in the DOU for several days. Her husband, while recovering from COVID at home, would call the unit every day and request for the nurse to assist in doing a FaceTime with his wife. We encouraged him to talk to her and explained that even though she is sedated she could still hear him. So, every day he called, and we used the phone so he could see her. He would talk to her and give her some encouraging words. One day he mentioned to Lauren Sanchez, RN and patient's nurse, that he drives from home to the hospital and sits in his car in the parking lot for hours just to feel close to his wife. Lauren advised him that his wife's room overlooks an area above the cafeteria. She suggested to him that she would cut out a pink heart and post it in her window to identify her room. The pink heart would let him know what room she was in and so he could sit closer to the unit downstairs and look at the heart in the window and feel even closer to her. The patient's husband sat outside in the café atrium for 3 hours that day and stared at the pink heart posted in the window of her room. He was so thankful for the gesture. He said that even though he couldn't hold or see her, he felt close to her looking at the pink heart two floors up.
This was an easy decision for Lauren, an expression of the love she was now unable to share physically with her family and loved ones at home, aptly expressed to her peer in response to the situation created by the COVID pandemic: "Nurses have made sacrifices with their family life for safety as they have become the primary caregivers of COVID-19+ patients in the department." She continued, to share that with a 6-month old baby and vulnerable and high-risk family members, she lives apart from them for now to ensure their safety. She added, "It is such a heartbreaking choice to be away from my daughter and husband. But that's the choice I must make to provide the best care to our critically ill patients. I miss my family dearly and I try to translate some of my love for my family into each and every one of my patients."
Here is the husband's account of the kind gesture, as reported during his discharge follow up call, and shared in an email to leaders:
"Mr. M, whose wife is your patient, also raved about the nurses and doctors. In particular, he asked me to make sure that Nurse Lauren Sanchez received recognition. Mr. M. said that Nurse Sanchez went "above and beyond" to make this horrible situation a little bit better. He started to sob as he described Nurse Sanchez hanging a heart on his wife's window so that he could see it. He also said that Nurse Sanchez patiently helped him FaceTime with his wife. Although the patient can't talk, Nurse Sanchez said things like "Squeeze my hand if you heard your husband say, 'I love you.'" Nurse Sanchez reported to Mr. M that the patient squeezed his hand. He had COVID himself and feels terribly guilty about possibly giving it to her and he is really beside himself with fear and grief and guilt. He just kept saying that everyone was super nice. He was "more than satisfied." He felt that Nurse Sanchez was exceptional, and he couldn't say enough good about her."