There has been a story on my mind for quite sometime now. It is about one of the nurses in the Emergency Department who continuously demonstrates the highest quality of patient care. In mid March, our department had become overwhelmed with the high volume of COVID-19 patients. In response to the large influx of patients, our Western Shelter was constructed to provide an efficient process to swab our stable patients. This went on for weeks before there was finally some relief. During this time, our staff had no choice but to adapt to a different chaotic environment that we were not emotionally prepared for.
One evening there was an elderly patient in Red 3 who was, unfortunately, deteriorating. He was tachypneic and sating in the 70s. After multiple attempts of trying to prone and oxygenate him, the treatment team ultimately decided to make him comfort care and initiate a morphine drip. Due to the visitor restrictions, the patient was unable to have any family at the bedside. As each family member called in, the doctor calmly spoke to each one of them in a caring and supportive way. A priest came to the bedside to say a prayer and give the patient their last rites.
A nurse who was involved in this patient's care was one of our own ED nurses, Maria Garcia. Maria is known in our department not only for her great clinical skills but also for her compassion for others. She exemplifies this towards caring for her patients and serves as a role model to her peers. For the pandemic, baby monitors were donated to the department to help communicate with the patients inside the room and limit exposure. In this case, Maria stayed outside the room for 2 hours and played "Amazing Grace" over the baby monitor for her patient. Everyone in the surrounding area heard the music playing.
Maria's display of compassion impacted another nurse, who recently joined our ED team. The sincere interaction between Maria and her patient left those who witnessed it, speechless. Maria showed above and beyond compassion and dedication to the profession. She proved that even in the middle of the chaos, we can't lose sight that patient care is always the priority.
For those who know Maria, this is no extraordinary encounter. From the moment he came to the ED, the patient put up a strong fight. Although very weak, he tried to prone himself multiple times. He fought until the very end and passed away 2 hours later. This particular encounter should be recognized because, amidst the chaos of a global pandemic, Maria managed to find a way to provide peace and comfort in this man's passing. Not only was she able to give this man's death a sense of dignity, but also solace in knowing that he wasn't alone during his final moments.