We had a patient come from a nursing home and was in the hospital for 2 weeks. The patient had a small dog, M. The dog had been staying with a friend while the patient was unable to care for her. Penelope Hamilton had been working with the patient and family to make the best possible plan for him at discharge and was working on getting him home on hospice. He had been feeling down since being in the hospital.
In speaking with the patient Penelope determined he was missing his dog. Penelope then spoke with the friend caring for the dog and arranged to have the dog brought in for a visit. The patient was wheeled out to the Healing Garden to enjoy the sunshine the next day, at least that is what the nursing staff told him. After coming outside, he was reunited with his very happy loving pup, M. There were lots of smiles. It was a great chance to provide some much-needed compassion and love for this patient. Thank you to Penelope for making this happen and going outside the normal tasks to make a meaningful impact on this patient.