From the beginning with Zach on our service, I knew he would be amazing. My husband had come out of emergency brain surgery only hours earlier, and he could not have been better as far as care, but more so it was as if he already knew us, particularly my husband. Zach communicated with him more so as a friend or "buddy". He knew exactly what to say so that T would not feel bad or down when he may not have done very well on some of the initial neurological tests that the nurses do. This was huge because T has not ever encountered any major medical issues before and was very upset and confused after this major brain surgery.
He has been experiencing expressive aphasia and short-term memory loss, and unlike others, he did not make a big deal about pointing it out to T which would have only made him feel worse. We knew we loved him to begin with, but he took our hearts when he made it a point to get T a walker and got him outside to feel the warmth and sunshine.
Zach was off for the next few days and while our other nurses were very nice, no one would take him outside for a few minutes as I had requested since the outside trip with the nurse had been invaluable to T's spirit and mental/emotional well-being. It sounds like such a small thing, but in cases like these, it is the small things that mean so very much. No one asked or told Zach to do that, and the fact that he took the time and effort in his own accord meant the world.