I would like to take the opportunity to commend one of the new to practice PACU RN's for her persistence and determination of a situation that we encountered in the APU unit at Jefferson Methodist Hospital.
Jenna was orienting with me and we were caring for a patient of Dr. R's for surgery. The patient was alone and visibly nervous. She stated she was from Georgia staying at a hotel in Philadelphia. The patient took a cab to Methodist and stated she left her cell phone in the back seat. The patient has lost all communication with family as she did not know their phone numbers off-hand and was going to be admitted for a few days. I called the patient's cell phone a few times in hopes someone had picked it up but got no response.
Jenna in her calming voice asked the patient a few questions about the cab, the driver, the hotel where she was staying, and the last 4 digits of her credit card she used. Jenna got on the phone immediately and placed many phone calls to various cab companies with explanations of her request to help her patient.
Jenna could recognize how this situation was affecting her patient and wanted to ease some of her anxiety before going in for surgery.
"This poor lady does not have her phone and is from out of town. She must feel so lonely and afraid." Jenna's persistence paid off as she was able to get in contact with the right cab company and talked to the cab driver who stated he had the phone. Unfortunately, the cab driver was not close enough to bring the phone back before the patient's surgery but was willing to swing by and drop it off to the hospital when he was back in the area.
When Jenna delivered this news to her patient I could see the relief on her face knowing she would now be able to call her family after her procedure. Approximately 2-3 hours later the cab driver called to inform Jenna he was here with the phone.
Jenna was so thankful that the cab driver brought back her patient's phone that she went to 7-eleven and bought him a coke and a slice of pizza to express her gratitude. Jenna also took the time to call the cab company to share this act of kindness with a supervisor to recognize how this cab driver helped her patient.
By the time the patient was in recovery, Jenna was able to bring the patient her phone. What I witnessed was a most appreciative and grateful patient who filled up with tears and told Jenna "You're an angel who went above and beyond." Jenna was compassionate and truly an advocate for that patient. We are so happy and proud to have her on our team.