On a calm November day, the Labor and Delivery department experienced a rare and tragic healthcare emergency that resulted in the death of one of our young mothers. In this situation, the couple was alone and had no family in the state. The father left the room for a bite to eat and returned to the ordered chaos of an active code.
Earlier in the day, Sophie had noticed that this patient's name sounded familiar to those in her native country and region. Since she surmised that they may speak the same dialect, Sophie thought it may be comforting to this father to have someone speak to him in his home language.
Sophie not only remained calm and provided a layman's account of the medical emergency- she accompanied this terrified man to see his newborn daughter in the NICU, and help him tell his three young daughters the horrific news. Sophie became their surrogate family that day.
No words can express the difficulty of a nurse's job on a day to day basis during good times, but particularly in bad. Sophie exhibited the knowledge, compassion, professionalism and grace this family needed on one of the worst days of their life.