Before the end of our shift, I had asked Pat Hilsher to come into my patient's room and help me to better explain some things to my patient's wife. The patient was admitted to the hospital due to a suicide attempt. The night of my shift, my patient had 3 episodes that were new for him, and the wife expressed concern that these episodes were a negative sign of the patient's status. I had asked Pat to come into the room to help me explain and to assess the patient herself to see if there was anything additional I should do before the end of the shift. I had left the room for a brief minute and when I returned, Pat was sitting on a chair across from my patient's wife having a beautiful conversation with her. My patient's wife was able to cry and outpour her emotions to Pat while she listened and held her hand. The wife asked very difficult questions and expressed deep guilt and Pat was able to answer her questions and provide support to help the wife cope with this difficult situation. Pat sat in silence and allowed the wife to cry, and also hugged her and told her that the nursing staff was there to provide support for her and the family, just as much as the patient himself.

Pat has been a nurse for many years and what she did for my patient's family was very touching to me, and I'm sure for the wife as well. The wife even asked if Pat was back to take care of her husband the next night. Pat laughed and said, "No I only work the weekends." After the conversation, I sat next to Pat at our nurse's station and asked her how she knew what to say, and Pat replied, "I didn't".