Kyle Mader had a patient that was requiring a large amount of the nurses' time and was not acting very appreciative of the nurses. This gentleman had been an inpatient for several days and was continually being reported in hand off between nurses and nurse to doctor as "noncompliant" with meds and activities. The patient would continually ask for clarification and did not seem to want to comply with the plan of care.
Kyle took the time to try and figure out what was going on with this situation, and in doing so realized the patient wore hearing aids. Upon discovering this and knowing the patient had been a patient for several days he figured that the batteries must surely need to be replaced. Kyle then removed the hearing aids, and took a battery to the gift shop looking for replacements as he thought if the batteries are dead and the patient can't hear that this could be the problem.
Unfortunately, the gift shop did not have the appropriate batteries so Kyle came back to the floor and asked the CM for permission to go to Walgreens and purchase batteries out of his own pocket for the patient. The CM said of course, and Kyle went and bought the batteries brought them back and placed them in the hearing aids and this patient became a new man. The patient was now able to hear, and therefore actively participate with his plan of care, increasing his understanding of his medical condition and the need for his medications. The patient and his wife were overjoyed that Kyle was able to help in this way.