We recently had a patient who was exhausted, in pain and ready to transition to palliative care. Caitlin arrived for her shift in the MICU and immediately recognized this as she entered his room. She pulled up a chair, sat down next to him, held his hand and effortlessly discerned his needs. She challenged the medical team to meet his desire for comfort and to preserve his dignity. Caitlin discovered the patient was an avid gardener, so she coordinated a team to load him into a wheelchair so that she could take him outside to the flower garden patio. The patient was able to spend two hours outside, surrounded by plants, with his wife at his side before he passed away that evening.
Caitlin routinely goes above and beyond to make sure that patients and their families get what the need. She thinks nothing of these actions, but her patients, families, and co-workers think everything of her!