In the midst of the COVID Crisis, I was floated to MICU to help the nurses there. In the absence of Nick's patient's family who was not allowed to visit, I'd like to tell their story. In the middle of all the donning and doffing, nurses worrying about getting their own family sick, and the stress of caring for patients who all too often as succumbing to this terrible disease, there is Nick.
I had met Nick before as we serve on several committees together. I knew he was a relatively new nurse and an obvious overachiever, who joins system committees during their first year of work as a nurse? But that is really all I knew until I watched him work.
Nick is a force. He is fiercely intelligent, explaining all things ICU to me as the night went on. He is a light to all around him, offering air hugs and beaming smiles that you could envision even hidden beneath his PPE. But you ain't seen nothing until you see him go into his patient's room. He dons in full PPE and goes in with his phone playing tunes from The Voice, and he sings! He sings to his patient, who is medicated to allow the vent to do its job. He's in no rush. In the absence of any family or friends, he takes his time, taking of each need, all the while singing and talking to his patient through each task.
I'll never know if his patient made it to the other side of COVID, but I do know that either way, Nick's patient knew that they were well cared for each night Nick was there. He was not only a nurse but stood in for family and friends, being a source of light and life at the most challenging time.