The greatest acts of kindness are fulfilled with the silence of our hearts. That and more is what RN, Carrie has allowed us to see through her compassion and love. In a moment of trouble, J became one of our patients. From the beginning, the staff struggled with his violent mood swings and difficulty in care because of his mental instability. As his medications were adjusted, the patient was able to come back to his baseline self, with the mental stability of a 5-year-old. As J became more comfortable with the staff, he started to ask staff about cars and printing pictures of them, to which our manager was able to assist. During this time, Carrie had the patience and loving care to listen to his requests, as well as his needs, even though she had a full and busy assignment. She was able to provide excellence in nursing.
As the day ended, Carrie understood that the following day was the day for him to head to his new home, which she made sure he felt comfortable and confident that everything was going to be okay. The day of his discharge, even though Carrie was not working, she came to the hospital to provide the patient with some clothes and shoes from her husband's closet. Because of the condition in which the patient came to our unit, he had no personal belongings or fresh clean clothes to go with him to his new home. Even though the clothes may not have been new, Carrie wanted to make sure she was able to provide the patient with something clean and decent so that he could wear them to his new home. The patient's reaction to seeing the clothes and shoes was priceless. It felt as if he was opening presents on Christmas morning. After Carrie left, the patient could not stop smiling and showing off his new clothes and shoes. She gave him the confidence to be happy and feel good about himself in a moment of distress. Like our loving father in heaven, Carrie just wanted to share her love and compassion to those in need; to which I did not want to go unnoticed. I pray that one day I can have the passion and the loving care that she has for her patients and coworkers. She has truly changed the way I see life and the medical profession. She teaches all of us to be humble, happy, and no matter what, try our hardest to always keep smiling. I always look forward to the days we are scheduled to work together. Thank you, Carrie, for working hard and showing us what the nursing profession is all about.