I would like to tell you a story about compassion and how the kindness of one nurse has spread like tree roots and is sprouting new trees in all directions. I was working as a charge nurse in the Trauma ICU when I was approached by a woman who appeared slightly disheveled and had bags under her eyes. It was obvious to me that the woman had been crying. She was the daughter of a patient we were treating in our unit. She asked me if I could speak with Allan, another nurse on the floor. When I asked her if there was anything I could do for her, she simply stated, "I'd like to meet him. He was the last face my dad saw before he died." After a little more inquiry, I learned that her mother and father had been in a car accident the evening before. Her parents were both admitted to the unit. However, her father did not survive through the night.
When it became clear that her father would not survive his injuries, she made the difficult decision to stop aggressive care and allowed her father to have as natural a death a possible, given the circumstances. She was devastated that her father would die alone, as she lived out of town and her mother was in no condition to be at his bedside. She then described the phone call she had with Allan the night her father died.
Allan promised her that her father would not die alone, that he would stay by his side until he passed. Allan held her father's hand until he took his last breath. He never left his bedside. He fulfilled his promise to her and did a great kindness to the patient himself. She introduced Allan to her other family members who all expressed their gratitude to him. An extraordinary act of kindness and unwavering compassion helped her family in ways that neither he nor I may ever understand. However, I can speak to the effect his actions had on me.
Hearing her story brought tears to my eyes, tears of sadness for her and her family, and from an overwhelming sense of pride in Allan. I am honored to work alongside him and will never forget the gentleness in his voice as he spoke to her and her family. I'm not sure that my words have conveyed the amount of respect and admiration I have for Allan as a nurse and a friend.