UNC Health Blue Ridge Critical Care Team

We had a patient in our ICU for 22 days who was deaf and utilized an ASL interpreter to communicate with the healthcare team. On day 22, the patient chose to transition to comfort care after lengthy discussions via ASL interpreters, critical care team, hospitalist, and nursing. The nursing team in the ICU took this opportunity to make the last day of her life as memorable as possible for the patient and her friends who were able to visit her. The nurses took the Hoyer lift and got the patient out of bed into a wheelchair, which allowed them to take her outside one last time to visit with her friends, who were like family to her. Callie Hayes came in on her day off work to bring the patient hot dogs from Sonic, which was her favorite. Callie and Jamie took time to sit with the patient and her friends outside and stated that the patient truly had become one of their friends during their time together. Destiny also brought the patient food that she had mentioned enjoying during the last night that the patient was under our care. The team focused on the patient as a person and went above and beyond, giving her a memorable last day of life under our care at Blue Ridge. This is a true example of teamwork and a true testament to the compassionate care provided by our team every day.