I am a paramedic with American Heritage Ambulance. I wanted to take a minute and give you some feedback regarding an experience I had with one of your nurses. We were scheduled to transport a patient to her residence for hospice care and so that she could spend her final days in the presence of her loved ones. The patient was on bipap and required an appropriate ventilator for transport. So once we arrived on the floor, we met with Jennifer and she gave us a report on the patient prior to transport. As we made our way into the patient's room we found the patient semi-responsive with copious family members at her bedside. It was immediately apparent that we probably weren't going to make it to the patient's home before she passed. However, with Jennifer's assistance, we all attempted to transfer the patient with the intent on making it to her residence where her family was waiting. Unfortunately, that didn't occur.
The patient passed soon after we moved her to our stretcher and prior to exiting the room. Her daughter was present and was able to speak with her mother as she was taking her last breaths. I apologize for the details of this experience but it was necessary to be able to appropriately describe the events that followed. Once the patient passed, her daughter was at her side distraught, sobbing and attempting to contact the family members that had already left. Jennifer gently turned the patient's head and began to softly sing a song in her ear. She continued to tenderly stroke that patient's hair and sing for a few minutes longer after she passed. It was truly inspiring to observe her provide the compassion, kindness, and grace that the family needed at that difficult moment.
All too often in healthcare, we as providers lose the ability to truly empathize with our patients and/or families. There were other little subtle things that Jennifer did in those moments following that family's loss that I truly feel provided them with amazing, compassionate care. Jennifer truly is an asset to this Trident team. I have been in the prehospital care of sick and injured patients for many years and this is definitely an experience I won't forget. We should all remember to empathize and show acts of kindness, despite the revolving door of health care.