A patient came to L&D who was deaf, making it difficult for her to understand basic information. She was brought in by an ambulance without a family member or friend, which compounded the difficulty in communicating with her. The patient was able to text her mother that she was in the hospital, but was very vague on her condition. Rhonda asked for the mother's phone number and called her. The patient's mother was frantic and crying. She was unable to get to the hospital quickly and felt very useless. Rhonda calmed the mother down by explaining her daughter's condition and assuring her that she would take very good care of her daughter. Rhonda told her to drive safe and trust her to do good work.
Rhonda tried communicating with the patient by writing on the whiteboard but didn't feel she was helping the patient enough. She decided to purchase a sign language app on her phone. She was able to type in the information she wanted to communicate and the app signed it for the patient. Rhonda was able to give excellent care to her patient and get pertinent information from her. The patient's mother was extremely thankful when she arrived. She was overwhelmed by the passionate care and understanding that Rhonda gave to her daughter.