Robert
Cox
February 2011
Robert
Cox
,
AD
Critical Care Float Pool
Highland Hospital
Rochester
,
NY
United States
Robert Cox is pictured with CNO, Tommye Hinton.
Bob Cox, RN, whose work takes him from the ICU, the ED, the recovery room and intervention radiology, is familiar with caring for patients who are handling some tough situations. But nothing could have prepared him for the situation that ultimately earned him recognition as the second quarter DAISY Award honoree at Highland Hospital.
“This award means a lot,” Cox said, surrounded by colleagues and family members in the Calihan Conference Room that included his wife, daughters, son and father-in-law. “This is the epitome of nursing. This validates what I try to work toward on a daily basis.”
What Cox did was go above and beyond the daily expectations of patient care when he helped grant a mother’s wish while her adult daughter was dying in the hospital. The patient, a 32-year-old who was born with multiple physical and mental challenges, was to be extubated after the family decided medical care would no longer give her any quality of life. The mother was crying and said that all she really wanted to do was to hold her daughter one more time. Cox overheard the conversation and told the mother he would work with his supervisor to make it happen.
“These people come in, they don’t know us but they take a leap of faith that we will help them in any way possible,” Cox said. “They depend on us and they put their lives and the care for their lives in our hands. I take that very seriously.”
After discussions with his supervisor, Cox went into action, getting a gown for the mother, lifting the patient out of bed and getting the mother positioned in bed and then setting the patient into her mother’s arms, where the daughter died.
“It was the toughest thing I ever had to do,” said Cox, whose daughter is a newborn. “I’m a father. I understood the emotions the mother must have felt. But we made it happen and she got her wish.”
The mother of the patient nominated Cox, writing about his “physical strength, kindness, care and competence.” Cox demonstrated the I CARE Values with his integrity, compassion, accountability, respect and excellence.
In addition to a bouquet of daisies that he presented to his wife, the DAISY banner will hang outside the ICU as a reminder to staff and patients of the excellent care the department provides. The ICU nurses also received a tray of cinnamon rolls and Cox was awarded a DAISY pin and a statuette carved in Africa that represents a medicine man and a child.
Bob Cox, RN, whose work takes him from the ICU, the ED, the recovery room and intervention radiology, is familiar with caring for patients who are handling some tough situations. But nothing could have prepared him for the situation that ultimately earned him recognition as the second quarter DAISY Award honoree at Highland Hospital.
“This award means a lot,” Cox said, surrounded by colleagues and family members in the Calihan Conference Room that included his wife, daughters, son and father-in-law. “This is the epitome of nursing. This validates what I try to work toward on a daily basis.”
What Cox did was go above and beyond the daily expectations of patient care when he helped grant a mother’s wish while her adult daughter was dying in the hospital. The patient, a 32-year-old who was born with multiple physical and mental challenges, was to be extubated after the family decided medical care would no longer give her any quality of life. The mother was crying and said that all she really wanted to do was to hold her daughter one more time. Cox overheard the conversation and told the mother he would work with his supervisor to make it happen.
“These people come in, they don’t know us but they take a leap of faith that we will help them in any way possible,” Cox said. “They depend on us and they put their lives and the care for their lives in our hands. I take that very seriously.”
After discussions with his supervisor, Cox went into action, getting a gown for the mother, lifting the patient out of bed and getting the mother positioned in bed and then setting the patient into her mother’s arms, where the daughter died.
“It was the toughest thing I ever had to do,” said Cox, whose daughter is a newborn. “I’m a father. I understood the emotions the mother must have felt. But we made it happen and she got her wish.”
The mother of the patient nominated Cox, writing about his “physical strength, kindness, care and competence.” Cox demonstrated the I CARE Values with his integrity, compassion, accountability, respect and excellence.
In addition to a bouquet of daisies that he presented to his wife, the DAISY banner will hang outside the ICU as a reminder to staff and patients of the excellent care the department provides. The ICU nurses also received a tray of cinnamon rolls and Cox was awarded a DAISY pin and a statuette carved in Africa that represents a medicine man and a child.