Recently we took care of a patient, Mr. C., who had a prolonged stay in our unit and was essentially a tetra-plegic, his prognosis for recovery was very low. Every day Allison took care of him and provided not only compassionate care to him, but to his wife, his parents, and his 11 year old son. We both identified very closely with this patient and his family. As his stay progressed, he became weaker and eventually coded, but with the phenomenal care of our team, and Allison, Mr. C. made it through another night. The next morning when we came into his room, he had made his decision to let go, Allison gently communicated his wishes to his family and 11 year old son. She took time out of her day, to talk about small things that would, in the days ahead, become very important memories for his family to share with one another. She kept a lock of his hair, made thumb prints, and hand prints, and even thought enough to drain from the exhalation port from his ventilator circuit so that they could take the humidification and have his last breath, to breathe new life into a plant that they could grow in memory of our patient.
As the day progressed many friends and family gathered and his last wish was to go outside and see his dog, Lucky. She made it happen, Allison contacted another unit to see if it would be reasonable for us to travel through their unit to get to an outside patio, so that Mr. C’s dog could come and visit. As we wheeled him over, she was completely prepared for every obstacle that came our way, from the elevator being too small to accommodate us, to navigating through the halls and sitting area of the other unit to get us and the patient outside. Once outside, his dog was able to visit, and sat on his bed, she was very still as if she knew the end was near. Music played softly while family and friends were able to visit and see Mr. C. one last time in the sunshine and outdoors, he was an avid outdoorsman and provided photography for the Virginia Dept. of Tourism.
I sat and watched the entire event unfold, as the patient was on a portable ventilator. I was deeply touched by the way Allison gently caressed this patient as if she were saying good bye to one of her parents. The overwhelming sense of love and compassion was intense. There was not a dry eye to be found. When the patient asked to be moved to a shadier place, Allison made it happen, and when the time came to bring him back inside, we all made it safely back to the ICU without any issues. Once back in his room, again there were no dry eyes to be found. When the time came to say final goodbyes, it was at the very end of our shift together, Allison immediately volunteered to stay over and see him safely and compassionately leave this world for the next. I remember thinking to myself this is what being a nurse is really about; selfless, gentle, compassionate care to all.
As we stood there Allison hugged, cried and held hands with the many folks who had gathered to say good-bye to this extraordinary man, she found time to comfort me as well. She knew that I too had recently lost my father and that my dad was my best friend, she knew that this was just as difficult for me as it was for Mr. C’s family. She exemplifies true compassionate selfless care.
It is an honor to work with Allison every day. If she has a bad day or feels badly no one ever knows. She is consistent in her care and a phenomenal mentor and friend to many. This event forever changed my opinion of what the scope of care is for a nurse. It’s more than just giving medication, or repositioning patients, it goes beyond that, it touches the soul, and that’s what Allison did that day, she touched everyone’s soul. She was able to help start the healing process of loss for the family and in essence for me as well. For this reason it is with great admiration that I nominated Allison Wendler-Bernier for the DAISY Award.