Lauren continues to impress me with how thoughtful she is and her concern for her patients. Lauren had an 89-year-old patient who was admitted to one of her rooms. The patient was not doing well and was not likely to live through the night. Her daughter mentioned that the patient had really been looking forward to her birthday and turning 90 in a couple of weeks. The patient's birthday is on St. Patrick's Day, so Lauren found some St. Patrick's Day decorations and brought them into the patient's room to help her celebrate her upcoming birthday. Several nurses also gathered to sing Happy Birthday to her.
Although the patient was not able to respond much, the patient's daughter was so touched by this and said to her mother, "Mom, you're 90!" and had tears in her eyes. It was a touching scene and such a great example of how nurses like Lauren can make such a great impact on patients and their families by being willing to take a little extra care and thoughtfulness specific to the patient's needs and situation.
The patient died a few hours later, but I am sure Lauren helped to make a difficult situation for the family a little easier by helping create a sweet memory opportunity for them. It is something I will remember as well.