Lesley Lay
October 2020
Lesley
Lay
,
RN, BSN, CPAN
PACU/Preop
UK HealthCare
Her attitude and will to have this surgery changed immediately. She couldn't wait to get her new liver. She was so thankful to Lesley, who was also in tears.
I was a witness to a very compassionate nurse. Lesley Lay and I were getting a patient ready for a liver transplant. The patient was a younger patient to be having a liver transplant. The patient's husband was able to stay with her during the pre-op time. It was obvious to me that both the patient and husband were very anxious about this surgery. What also contributed to the anxiety was the fact that her parents and son were not able to visit with her prior to surgery due to the COVID-19 visitation rules.
Lesley was very attentive to this and was able to speak with the patient and comfort her and her husband to decrease her anxiety. The husband was using his phone to FaceTime the family before surgery. The PreOp area is on the second floor of Pav A and it just so happens that this patient was in a room that was visible to the front of the hospital and also has a window view of the Shriners hospital.
While the husband was on the phone with the family who was now outside to get some fresh air since they weren't able to visit, Lesley came up with the idea to have the family come outside of the hospital to Rose Street so that the patient could get up and walk to the window to see her family outside. It didn't take them long to scurry to the front of the hospital so that they could position themselves to see their daughter. The husband was able to position them in front of the correct window while on the phone with them.
When the daughter got out of her bed and walked to the window it was beautiful. Both parents were jumping up and down on the streets outside and giving their daughter a virtual hug on the street all the while tears pouring from their eyes. The patient herself was returning the virtual hug and balled up with tears at the window. Her attitude and will to have this surgery changed immediately. She couldn't wait to get her new liver. She was so thankful to Lesley, who was also in tears.
Sometimes we as nurses have to realize the ability we have to change people's lives and that we can do things out of the ordinary to help with the healing process. Upon following this patient after her transplant she only stayed in ICU for a couple of days. She was so thankful that Lesley came up with this simple gesture that was able to give her a much better feeling about going into her surgery. She also felt that that is also what helped her do so well after the surgery to get better so quickly and wanted Lesley to know that.
Lesley was very attentive to this and was able to speak with the patient and comfort her and her husband to decrease her anxiety. The husband was using his phone to FaceTime the family before surgery. The PreOp area is on the second floor of Pav A and it just so happens that this patient was in a room that was visible to the front of the hospital and also has a window view of the Shriners hospital.
While the husband was on the phone with the family who was now outside to get some fresh air since they weren't able to visit, Lesley came up with the idea to have the family come outside of the hospital to Rose Street so that the patient could get up and walk to the window to see her family outside. It didn't take them long to scurry to the front of the hospital so that they could position themselves to see their daughter. The husband was able to position them in front of the correct window while on the phone with them.
When the daughter got out of her bed and walked to the window it was beautiful. Both parents were jumping up and down on the streets outside and giving their daughter a virtual hug on the street all the while tears pouring from their eyes. The patient herself was returning the virtual hug and balled up with tears at the window. Her attitude and will to have this surgery changed immediately. She couldn't wait to get her new liver. She was so thankful to Lesley, who was also in tears.
Sometimes we as nurses have to realize the ability we have to change people's lives and that we can do things out of the ordinary to help with the healing process. Upon following this patient after her transplant she only stayed in ICU for a couple of days. She was so thankful that Lesley came up with this simple gesture that was able to give her a much better feeling about going into her surgery. She also felt that that is also what helped her do so well after the surgery to get better so quickly and wanted Lesley to know that.