I'd like to recognize the Cardiothoracic Surgery Unit team for the extraordinary patient-centered care they provided my lifelong friend. He was a highly intelligent, funny, and unfailingly kind man, but like many people, he struggled with his own personal issues. He never married and over the last several years, he isolated himself from his family and friends.
This was in large part because he didn't want to intrude on the lives of others. As his health deteriorated, he became somewhat of a recluse. Fortunately, when another friend and I checked on him and found him extremely short of breath, we were able to convince him to go to the hospital.
My friend had suffered a large pneumothorax from end-stage pulmonary disease. Over the next six months, he was hospitalized five times at UTMC. Multiple methods including two pleurodeses, video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (VATS), bronchial valves, and as a last effort, an Eloesser flap thoracostomy were tried in an effort to get his chest tubes out. He fought hard to get better, but unfortunately, all these efforts were unsuccessful. He chose comfort care and died peacefully the next day.
While nurses throughout the hospital provided excellent nursing care, the Cardiothoracic Surgery Unit team, led by Hugh Friar, a direct care nurse, offered him friendship and love. This team developed authentic relationships with my friend by listening and sharing their lives with him.
The entire Cardiothoracic Surgery Unit staff, including the nursing technicians and exercise specialists, truly enriched the last six months of his life. Hugh, Jada Bates, nurse manager, and the team leaders made every effort to arrange a bed on the Cardiothoracic Surgery Unit whenever my friend was readmitted.
Multiple Cardiothoracic Surgery Unit team members visited him when he was on other acute care units or in critical care. Many brought his favorite foods or sweets to brighten his day. Some even stayed past their shift or came in on their own time to visit with him. Their efforts had a profound effect on my friend and help remind him of the importance of relationships.
Nurses Hugh Friar, Krista Godsey, Heather Jesse, Tanya Stinnett, and Jada Bates were particularly invested in my friend's care and well-being.
Hugh was the first to invest in him as a person and frequently visited him during his off time.
Krista surprised him one morning with a brief visit from her new puppy and made a special visit while on maternity leave to show him photos of her new baby.
Before he was discharged after his third admission, Heather took photos of him and his Cardiothoracic Surgery Unit "babies" and framed them to send with him.
Jada arranged for a one-way Heimlich valve for his chest tube and loaned him a wheelchair to take home after one he had borrowed disappeared. When he was discharged to his sister's home, Hugh, Jada, Tanya, and Heather made trips to visit and encourage him.
After he was readmitted with increased shortness of breath, Tanya advocated for him to be allowed to remain on the Cardiothoracic Surgery Unit with intermittent BiPAP.
In addition to providing skillful, compassionate nursing, these nurses allowed my friend to share in their lives and gave him opportunities to offer advice based on his own personal experiences, which led to genuine two­ way friendships.
Hugh, Jada, and Heather talked with him on different occasions about his spiritual condition while respecting his personal beliefs. As the end drew near, Hugh, Jada, and Heather came to sit with him on their own time for hours at a time.
I've been a nurse for 45 years and I can honestly say I have never seen a group of nurses so engaged with a patient. This team demonstrated the organization's mission of healing and values of integrity, excellence, compassion, innovation, collaboration, and dedication. I am forever grateful for the excellent nursing care, kindness, compassion, and love they showed my friend during the last months of his life.