I was sharing care of 6-patients on our unit on Christmas Day 2014. Toni (Antoinette) was helping my team. In the span of 4-hours, we had experienced a patient death and two other of our patients needing to transition up to our critical care units. One of the patients was having chest pain and very scared about what was going on. Toni stayed with this patient to comfort her, while I rushed to call and work with the doctors to get these patients to the ICU. While the patient did not verbalize it, just having a presence there while she was dealing with the pain and the fear, made such a difference versus being all alone. When the patient with chest pain was safely transitioned into ICU care, Toni then went and stayed with the other, very ill patient. Toni helped ease the patient's feelings of urgency and anxiety by explaining what was going on and helping assist the patient with oxygenation and elimination needs.
On top of all this, Toni continued to make rounds on the other patients to ensure they understood all the commotion; yet there needs were still just as much priority. When you have a patient care day where several patients need urgent attention quickly, it makes a difference to know you have a good team mate like Toni, one who helps watch your back as well as the rest of the teams'. Thank you, Toni! You make such a wonderful difference to me and more importantly, to our patients.