On an early morning in July, my 82-year-old sister fell out of her bed at home and broke her left femur, ankle, and wrist. She was transported by ambulance and ultimately admitted. She was operated on for her injuries the next day and put on the second floor after surgery, but due to complications, she was transferred to the MedSurg Stepdown unit. She was then later moved to the 5th Floor Oncology unit for end-of-life care. She remained on this floor until her passing. She was put in a small room that required our family to move out when the hospital personnel came in.

One of the nurses who was assigned to my sister’s care was named Patches. Although my sister was unresponsive through most of these days, Patches was gentle and caring when talking with her and shared compassion with all the family members in the room. One day, Patches told us that a larger room was becoming available with a couch and more chairs. It wasn’t long after that that she had us all moved into the larger room. My nephew could stay in comfort that night with his mother. As my wife and I were leaving later that evening, Patches caught up to us and asked if my nephew had eaten lunch or supper. We told her that he hadn’t eaten since breakfast. She asked what he liked, and that she would see that he had some food sent up to the room. We found out later that’s what she had done.

The next day, my sister passed. Because of Patches’ compassion in finding a room where my nephew could rest, he was allowed to stay and be with his mother when she passed.  She is truly an extraordinary and caring nurse who lives up to the Mercy Hospital motto.