Our hospital had a patient pass away on Med Tele. This patient died very unexpectedly. A nurse had just helped the patient to the bathroom, and he became faint and put in a chair. He lost his pulse and was lifted to the bed and CPR began. Nurses, physicians, physical therapists, patient care technicians, emergency room staff, rallied in every way to save his life. CPR was finally stopped. During this time, the only thing I could see was needed was to talk to the wife. As I did, she told me how the care at our hospital was so wonderful. As her husband was dying, having CPR, she began talking about a special nurse, Kendall Thornton. She said Kendall always joked with her husband and they had such a good time when she was caring for him. She wanted me to thank Kendall. Although she was going through the worst time of her life, she remembered how much Kendall had meant to her husband. I asked Kendall to tell her story and I received this email.
In Kendall's own words: "As a nurse, or anyone in the healthcare profession, the majority of our days are spent trying to make things better for our patients but mainly going unnoticed, or at least feeling that way. I truly believe that we make more of a difference in the people's lives that we come in contact with than we often realize. There are also those special times when you are recognized for the impact that you had on a specific patient's life. He went from being an active person, working and raising his family, to unfortunately passing away unexpectedly in the hospital. During the time I had with this patient, I was able to create a bond with him and his wife. No matter how much pain the patient was in we were always able to find something to laugh about and make light of the situation. Unfortunately, I was not here the day he passed away, but I was notified about the situation after the fact and also was told the patient's wife wanted me to be aware of his passing and how much I had made a difference in this last few days. This was not only shocking to hear about his passing but eye-opening to know that I had left such an impact on not only my patient but also the patient's wife. The patient's wife contacted me a few days later when she knew I would be at work because she wanted me to know that I had made such a difference and truly helped him get through those difficult days. She noted that just the ability to make him laugh and keep him positive meant so much to the patient and his family. As hard as the conversation was to have with the patient's wife, it was a conversation that made me realize sometimes the smallest things that we do have some of the biggest impacts on the people we come in contact with."