Sara Elliott
November 2023
Sara
Elliott
,
BSN, RN
Emergency Department
Vanderbilt Tullahoma - Harton Hospital
Tullahoma
,
TN
United States
Sara saw the distress in her eyes, heard her desperate crying, and realized she needed help. My son left the hospital around shift change. So, Sara clocked out of work and followed the ambulance to my son’s house.
A patient presented to the ER who is the son of the ER director and on hospice care. The ER director was out of town during the patient's stay in the ER. The patient was ultimately discharged back home with hospice and Sara went to the patient’s home to help the family with any needs on her own free time off the clock. The patient ended up passing while Sara was there with the family.
The family of the patient shared the following with us, “Impressed, grateful, overwhelmed by her kindness; these are the very strong emotions that come to my mind when I think of what ED Nurse Sara Elliot did for my family recently. My 37-year-old son had ALS. He was on Hospice care at home. On Sunday afternoon, while watching a movie, his time came, and he slumped over in his wheelchair. My daughter-in-law was terrified and very upset. Despite knowing he had a fatal disease, she began resuscitation efforts. She called 911, and he was taken by ambulance to the VTHH ED. There, he was provided care by the most amazing group of folks. (The staff was nothing short of amazing at every turn, but that is a different story). Sara was the ED Charge Nurse that day, and ensured my son received exceptional care; individualized to him. He had lost his ability to speak but was, at times, alert and knew what was going on around him. She figured out how to communicate with him and made him comfortable. She comforted his wife and ensured the family knew what was happening. His wishes were to die at home, but because he had come to the Hospital, his hospice care stopped and had to be restarted. He was discharged home and transported by EMS to live out the short time he had left at home. Restarting hospice does not happen quickly. My daughter-in-law was very upset and overwhelmed. She was in the middle of losing her best friend and life partner. Sara saw the distress in her eyes, heard her desperate crying, and realized she needed help. My son left the hospital around shift change. So, Sara clocked out of work and followed the ambulance to my son’s house. She spent the next several hours comforting my daughter-in-law and ensuring my grandchildren got to say goodbye, letting them know what was going on with my son, and ensuring all family members were able to either come to his bedside or do a speakerphone call before he died. She made sure the atmosphere was calm. Thank you is just not enough to say to someone who ensured my son got his deathbed wish of dying peacefully in his own bed surrounded by family. She stayed until after his death, and the hospice nurse arrived, making sure the family was not alone.
The family of the patient shared the following with us, “Impressed, grateful, overwhelmed by her kindness; these are the very strong emotions that come to my mind when I think of what ED Nurse Sara Elliot did for my family recently. My 37-year-old son had ALS. He was on Hospice care at home. On Sunday afternoon, while watching a movie, his time came, and he slumped over in his wheelchair. My daughter-in-law was terrified and very upset. Despite knowing he had a fatal disease, she began resuscitation efforts. She called 911, and he was taken by ambulance to the VTHH ED. There, he was provided care by the most amazing group of folks. (The staff was nothing short of amazing at every turn, but that is a different story). Sara was the ED Charge Nurse that day, and ensured my son received exceptional care; individualized to him. He had lost his ability to speak but was, at times, alert and knew what was going on around him. She figured out how to communicate with him and made him comfortable. She comforted his wife and ensured the family knew what was happening. His wishes were to die at home, but because he had come to the Hospital, his hospice care stopped and had to be restarted. He was discharged home and transported by EMS to live out the short time he had left at home. Restarting hospice does not happen quickly. My daughter-in-law was very upset and overwhelmed. She was in the middle of losing her best friend and life partner. Sara saw the distress in her eyes, heard her desperate crying, and realized she needed help. My son left the hospital around shift change. So, Sara clocked out of work and followed the ambulance to my son’s house. She spent the next several hours comforting my daughter-in-law and ensuring my grandchildren got to say goodbye, letting them know what was going on with my son, and ensuring all family members were able to either come to his bedside or do a speakerphone call before he died. She made sure the atmosphere was calm. Thank you is just not enough to say to someone who ensured my son got his deathbed wish of dying peacefully in his own bed surrounded by family. She stayed until after his death, and the hospice nurse arrived, making sure the family was not alone.