Melanie Porter
April 2016
Melanie
Porter
,
BSN, RN
Patient Care Coordinator
Vidant Medical Center
Greenville
,
NC
United States
Melanie was working a stretch of back to back night shifts. From night to night she would conduct her rounds to the various nursing units and on one unit in the children's hospital she noticed a young female patient at the nurse's desk. On the next night she noticed this patient again. Sometimes there are moments in life one cannot explain and for some reason this patient was drawn towards Melanie. As she conducted report with the charge nurse, the patient was drawn closer and closer to Melanie and she actually laid her head upon her shoulder. Melanie greeted and welcomed the patient. Melanie's compassion and warm spirit engulfed the patient, opening the doors for a meaningful connection.
At the time of this conversation, the Christmas holiday was right around the corner so naturally Melanie and the young patient talked about Santa. Melanie learned that the patient had limited family and when she asked the young girl what she wanted for Christmas she lit up with cheer and stated, "An Easy Bake Oven". Later that week after Melanie was off for her holiday she returned to work with a wrapped present. As discreetly as possible she went to the unit with her wrapped present and asked that it be given to her new friend. As you can imagine inside that wrapped box was an Easy Bake Oven, but in my opinion there was so much more inside. For the young girl she received love and kindness from a stranger. She was made to feel like a child full of Christmas spirit, not just a patient in the hospital.
I had the opportunity to hear this story from Melanie over dinner and she told me this was an example of why she loved her job as patient care coordinator at VMC. In listening to Melanie share the details of this story I too received a "gift". In that moment I was reminded why I went into nursing, which is beautifully said in this quote from Maya Angelou, "As a nurse, we have the opportunity to heal the heart, mind, soul, and body of our patient, their families, and ourselves. They may forget your name, but they will never forget how you made them feel."
Melanie touched the lives of many with one small Easy Bake Oven. Not only did she bring a smile to a young girl's face on Christmas morning, she was inspiration to her friends and nursing colleagues.
At the time of this conversation, the Christmas holiday was right around the corner so naturally Melanie and the young patient talked about Santa. Melanie learned that the patient had limited family and when she asked the young girl what she wanted for Christmas she lit up with cheer and stated, "An Easy Bake Oven". Later that week after Melanie was off for her holiday she returned to work with a wrapped present. As discreetly as possible she went to the unit with her wrapped present and asked that it be given to her new friend. As you can imagine inside that wrapped box was an Easy Bake Oven, but in my opinion there was so much more inside. For the young girl she received love and kindness from a stranger. She was made to feel like a child full of Christmas spirit, not just a patient in the hospital.
I had the opportunity to hear this story from Melanie over dinner and she told me this was an example of why she loved her job as patient care coordinator at VMC. In listening to Melanie share the details of this story I too received a "gift". In that moment I was reminded why I went into nursing, which is beautifully said in this quote from Maya Angelou, "As a nurse, we have the opportunity to heal the heart, mind, soul, and body of our patient, their families, and ourselves. They may forget your name, but they will never forget how you made them feel."
Melanie touched the lives of many with one small Easy Bake Oven. Not only did she bring a smile to a young girl's face on Christmas morning, she was inspiration to her friends and nursing colleagues.