Lindsey was taking care of a chronic patient who had just recently lost his brother to the same disease that he was dying from. He had a stuffed animal beanie baby that wore a necklace that contained his brother's ashes. Lindsey knew the importance of this stuffed animal and charm. This object was one of the only things that gave this child "Hope and Will" to live. Due to unforeseen circumstances, this patient was all alone in the hospital with no family. He clung to the stuffed animal and to his brother's ashes.
Later in the shift, Lindsey called me and was distraught that she couldn't find the stuffed animal. The patient had not seen it for a few hours. Lindsey had already had 5 other nurses search her patient's room trying to find the precious animal. With no luck, we went to the laundry and dug through the unit's laundry for the day. That was a job! Yuck! However, it still was not found.
Lindsey made it her mission to find this animal. She was not giving up. So, she called EVS and acquired how and where the trash goes when it gets taken from the PICU. Lindsey created a dumpster dive team that had 5 members on it. We went downstairs and dug through all of the hospital's non-compacted trash from the day, opening every bag! It was a new experience for all of us, a little yucky and smelly too...but Lindsey kept reminding us of the importance of our mission. Unfortunately, we were unable to find the item in the dumpster.
However, Lindsey was not ready to give up. The next day, she ordered a new necklace and stuffed animal for the patient. She has even offered to go get more ashes from family members to fill the necklace. Lindsey and the whole dumpster diving team went above and beyond! Lindsey knew the importance of the necklace and wanted her patient to not lose that "Hope and Will" for fighting. Lindsey and team definitely displayed going above and beyond the call of duty demonstrating such a strong commitment to Children's patients.