Will Smith
August 2017
Will
Smith
,
RN
Emergency Department
Temecula Valley Hospital
Temecula
,
CA
United States

 

 

 

Will is one of our most experienced night shift nurses. Will cared for a military veteran diagnosed with appendicitis requiring admission. Will's patient shared with Will he could not be admitted because his service dog suffers from PTSD and he cannot miss saying goodnight to his service dog. Will further explained the complication by sharing his patient has a service dog because he too suffers from PTSD. Will started to explain to the patient the risks of not being admitted, such as ruptured appendix. The patient was adamant about leaving so he could care for his service dog. Will offered the patient to have his wife bring in his service dog. The patient explained this would not be safe because his dog does not do well around people, which is a symptom of his PTSD. So Will made another arrangement. Will arranged to take the patient in a wheelchair out to the ambulance bay where he could meet his wife and spend some time with his service dog and say "goodnight" to his dog. This type of care exemplifies great patient care. Tailoring patient care to each patient as the individuals they are. Will often is recognized for the personalized care he delivers to our patients. The end result was the patient felt comfortable enough to stay and receive the care that he needed without having to worry about his service dog which was his friend!