The patient, already dealing with a cancer diagnosis, was in the hospital after fracturing her knee in a fall. Various health-care providers were speaking to her adult daughter about the patient's current inability to take care of herself.

The daughter wrote that, in her distress over the situation, she believed they were suggesting she commit her mother permanently to a nursing home. "I was very upset and totally against the idea," she wrote.

Shayna Newman intervened in the situation. Shayna was able to reach out to the daughter to help her relax and give her pertinent information about the options.

According to the daughter, Shayna "took the time to explain that, if my mother was admitted, it would be for rehabilitation and a short stay. She also explained how it would benefit my mother.

She brought to this family member compassion, empathy and reassurance about the recommended plan of care. The daughter could then get answers to questions that had resulted in her fear of skilled nursing facilities, and Shayna even accompanied the daughter on a tour of the facility on her day off.



The family said that, without Shayna's involvement, the patient would simply have been taken home and not received the treatment and therapy she needed. "We owe her a debt of gratitude."