Sarah was recently the bedside RN for a family I was serving. The patient was frantic when I entered the room. The patient quickly shared how she needed a transfusion before being discharged and her fear of it taking too long. She continued explaining that she thought it would result in another night here.
For most patients, this might not be a concern, but she was different. Her 18-year-old daughter was set to graduate high school the next day and the patient was well aware she had a limited amount of time left to create memories with her daughter. I left the room and talked to Sarah. Sarah was able to get the oncologist on the phone (after several attempts) and have this transfusion expedited. The patient was able to go home the same day and was able to attend her daughter's graduation. When I called to follow up with her, she was tearful talking about how our staff made this memory possible for her.