A patient who had been discharged from the hospital earlier in the morning was taken to the discharge lounge to wait for a family member who was coming from out of town to pick him up.
Due to other circumstances, the family was not able to make it to Billings that day as planned. The patient had no other family or friends in Billings, did not have money for overnight lodging, and had no cell phone.
The patient reportedly also had some level of cognitive impairment. The nurse in the discharge lounge, Lisa, RN, reached out to care management for assistance. Through coordination with the Foundation and Patient Experience, care management was able to get vouchers for a hotel stay and food from the cafeteria.
Lisa, RN, identified that this patient may have difficulty getting food and to the hotel on his own. She went above and beyond by escorting him to the cafeteria to pick up food he could take with him to the motel, walked him over to the motel to help get him checked in, and then made sure he made it to his room.
She left the discharge lounge phone number with him and made sure he knew how to get back to the discharge lounge in case the family did not make it to Billings before check-out time.
She spoke with him by phone several times the next morning making sure he was doing OK, and when the family did not arrive before check-out time, the patient walked back to the discharge lounge where Lisa, RN, welcomed him back until his family arrived.