June 2021
Sabrina
Walden
,
RN
Emergency Department
Wellstar Spalding Regional Medical
Griffin
,
GA
United States
After her 12-hour shift in the ED, Sabrina decided to visit her patient on the inpatient floor to make sure the surgery went as planned.
This day was a typical busy day in the Emergency Department. Sabrina just received her nurse-to-nurse report from the triage nurse. This patient was a new EMS arrival. The previous nurse was concerned about the possibility of confusion because the patient kept talking about her studies while she was at Berkley. As soon as Sabrina entered the patient’s room, she was elated yet saddened by the presence of her favorite college professor! The patient tripped and fell that morning, thus fracturing her femur. As Sabrina continued to interview the patient, she discovered that the patient lived by herself and had no immediate family. The patient disclosed that she was extremely anxious about the outcome of her impending surgery. Sabrina gave her kind words of encouragement to ease her nerves. The patient left straight from the Emergency Department to the Operating Room.
Although the patient was gone from Sabrina’s department, the patient never left Sabrina’s thoughts. After her 12-hour shift in the ED, Sabrina decided to visit her patient on the inpatient floor to make sure the surgery went as planned. The patient’s current nurse told her that she could not get the patient to eat since she had arrived on the floor. The inpatient nurse was concerned about possible dementia. As Sabrina talked to the patient, the patient told her the reason she refused to eat was that she needed her dentures! Sabrina immediately knew what she needed to do. She left the hospital and drove to the patient’s home. She retrieved the patient’s dentures. She also packed the essentials that she would need when she was transferred to a rehab facility. She immediately transported the patient’s items back to the hospital. This simple act of kindness meant everything to that one patient. A patient that had her whole world turned upside down. The patient has a successful surgery and recovery thanks to Sabrina’s compassionate and selfless acts.
To this day, Sabrina continues to make house visits and accompanies her to her appointments. The professor experienced a seamless, speedy recovery. Knowing that this certain professor would not be able to make her routine pedicure session, Sabrina surprised her with an early Christmas present of a much-deserved manicure and pedicure. The pandemic has every acute care nurse stretched to limits that have never been tested before. It is so easy to lose sight of how simple acts of compassion and kindness make the biggest impact on a patient’s recovery. Sabrina never loses sight of the needs of her patients, day in and day out.
Although the patient was gone from Sabrina’s department, the patient never left Sabrina’s thoughts. After her 12-hour shift in the ED, Sabrina decided to visit her patient on the inpatient floor to make sure the surgery went as planned. The patient’s current nurse told her that she could not get the patient to eat since she had arrived on the floor. The inpatient nurse was concerned about possible dementia. As Sabrina talked to the patient, the patient told her the reason she refused to eat was that she needed her dentures! Sabrina immediately knew what she needed to do. She left the hospital and drove to the patient’s home. She retrieved the patient’s dentures. She also packed the essentials that she would need when she was transferred to a rehab facility. She immediately transported the patient’s items back to the hospital. This simple act of kindness meant everything to that one patient. A patient that had her whole world turned upside down. The patient has a successful surgery and recovery thanks to Sabrina’s compassionate and selfless acts.
To this day, Sabrina continues to make house visits and accompanies her to her appointments. The professor experienced a seamless, speedy recovery. Knowing that this certain professor would not be able to make her routine pedicure session, Sabrina surprised her with an early Christmas present of a much-deserved manicure and pedicure. The pandemic has every acute care nurse stretched to limits that have never been tested before. It is so easy to lose sight of how simple acts of compassion and kindness make the biggest impact on a patient’s recovery. Sabrina never loses sight of the needs of her patients, day in and day out.