A young man had been in a motor vehicle accident and suffered a brain injury as a result. A "halo" traction device confined his movement, but still, the nonverbal patient was struggling, disoriented, and trying to get out of bed and remove lines and tubes.
"The patient's mother would sit in his room for hours just waiting for him to recognize her and to talk to her," wrote a fellow nurse. "Nenita was assigned to him for consistency every night and she would take the time and work with him to get him to talk. Then, one night toward the end of the night shift, he spontaneously spoke a few words."
Nenitaimmediately called the patient's mother on the phone so she could hear her son talking.
"The mother was crying in happiness and was very grateful forNenita'scare," the nurse wrote.
"I remember giving report after that," Nenita said. "I just kept saying, 'He's talking! He's talking!'"