September 2017
Kathy
Mitchell
,
BSN, RN, CCRN
Critical Care
Baptist Health Madisonville
Madisonville
,
KY
United States
Last week we had a patient admitted to the CCU that had no family contact available to us. He was dropped off in the ED. This young man was in critical condition and spoke no English. Our charge nurse, Kathy, decided she was going to make it her personal goal to find a family member of this young man. She acquired his phone from security and began texting contacts in Spanish, asking if they were a family member and to please call our unit. She was able to reach the patient's brother with this process. He called the unit and as he spoke no English, Dr. A was kind enough to relay the information about his brother to him. He was able to come from North Carolina and be with his brother for a short time. Most importantly, he was able to get the information to their mother that her son was in the hospital. The patient's brother shared with Dr. A and Kathy that his mother had been very concerned as his brother called their mother twice daily. She had reached out to a contact here but was told that they knew nothing about her son. Once the mother heard about how ill her son was, it was very important to her that her son receive last rites. She was able to provide a name that her son had shared with her about a friend he had made at church. Kathy tracked down this gentleman and someone came to administer last rites. Later, this young man passed away. His brother was notified and was able to come back to view the body. Kathy offered her home to this patient's brother for a place to stay while in town. Kathy is a unique person with a heart of gold. I do not want her act of compassion, concern, and kindness to go unnoticed. You just can't go much more above and beyond for a patient and family than this.