August 2020
Kellie
Phibbs
,
RN
Emergency Department
LewisGale Hospital - Pulaski
Pulaski
,
VA
United States
Kellie was nominated for the care she showed while training as the LGHP PPE "Czar" during the COVID pandemic. Kellie noticed that a 12-year old boy was sitting in the waiting room most of the day without any adult to care for him. His dad was a patient and he was not allowed to visit because of COVID restrictions. CPS had been contacted to find someone to take over the child's care while his dad was hospitalized. The child was probably experiencing the second-worst day of his life as this day was the first anniversary of his mother's death from an overdose. Kellie was not aware of this tragic anniversary for this child. She did, however, recognize that lunchtime had passed and the child was probably hungry. Without saying anything to anyone, Kellie contacted our dietary staff and asked them to prepare a meal for this little boy. By the time she got the meal back to the waiting room, he had fallen asleep on the bench. She calmly woke him up, offered him the meal, which included pudding for dessert and a soda. Kellie recognized that this child needed someone to care for him and she stepped in to "care like family", if only for a few minutes.