We had a 97-year-old male patient admitted to CDU. His 94-year-old wife was in the unit visiting and was very upset in our hallway. She was very upset and crying because we had lost his dentures. After looking into things, we determined he was not admitted with his dentures. This spouse was inconsolable; we asked her to go home and look for them. She was so distraught that Shannon Reffuse, charge nurse, on her lunch, went with the spouse to her house to assist in finding his dentures.

When they were leaving, she told Shannon that she needed gas, but her husband always pumped It, and she didn't know how. On the way to her house, Shannon stopped at the gas station to help her pump gas. At the house, the spouse was frantic; every denture cup was empty, but Shannon kept looking and found the dentures in a coffee cup on the kitchen counter; she also located his hearing aids. After returning to the hospital, this patient was transferred to rehab. The spouse tried to follow the transport but was unable to, and she came back to our unit crying. Shannon and the ANM assisted her. Shannon went through her phone and found a family contact and called them. The ANM drove to the facility and let the spouse follow her; she also made sure that the spouse found her husband and stayed with her until we were able to confirm that the family was coming to be with her.

Shannon spoke with the grandson; the manager reached out to case management, and they called the PCP and reached a granddaughter. In the end, a home health aide was going to pick up the spouse from the facility, and their granddaughter was flying in that night to help them both. This was a team effort, but Shannon and J both went above and beyond to assist the spouse and her husband. The safety of this couple was the first concern.