Gretchen Hildner
September 2020
Gretchen
Hildner
,
RN, BSN
Intensive Care Unit
Atrium Health Pineville
Each time, Gretchen made sure to comb his hair, clean his mouth, and make sure the patient looked as presentable as he could for his video dates. The appreciation in the patient's eyes was evident.
Gretchen has shown exemplary care going above and beyond to bring the best care to her patients.
A patient was admitted to ICU post-cardiac arrest. He underwent therapeutic hypothermia; however, his heart was left very weak and his body was incredibly deconditioned limiting our ability to extubate him. His wife and children were distraught, unable to visit him due to restrictions enforced for COVID-19.
About mid-way through the week, Gretchen began her stretch of shifts and took care of this gentleman. I watched her coordinate FaceTime/video calls with his wife and daughters multiple times throughout the day. Each time, she made sure to comb his hair, clean his mouth, and make sure the patient looked as presentable as he could for their video date. The appreciation in the patient's eyes was evident.
Over those few shifts, she made sure to do PT exercises with him multiple times throughout the day, which eventually aided in allowing us to give him a trial of extubation. That day, as every day, Gretchen held the iPad for the patient to interact with his family so they could tell him they loved him.
Unfortunately, a couple of days later he decompensated and passed. A week later, a card from his family arrived thanking the entire staff for the care they gave the patient. His wife personally thanked Gretchen for all the time she spent coordinating video calls and making her husband look presentable for each encounter. She stated that without Gretchen's dedication and the extra time she took out of each shift, they would have never had so many positive memories at the end of his life.
A patient was admitted to ICU post-cardiac arrest. He underwent therapeutic hypothermia; however, his heart was left very weak and his body was incredibly deconditioned limiting our ability to extubate him. His wife and children were distraught, unable to visit him due to restrictions enforced for COVID-19.
About mid-way through the week, Gretchen began her stretch of shifts and took care of this gentleman. I watched her coordinate FaceTime/video calls with his wife and daughters multiple times throughout the day. Each time, she made sure to comb his hair, clean his mouth, and make sure the patient looked as presentable as he could for their video date. The appreciation in the patient's eyes was evident.
Over those few shifts, she made sure to do PT exercises with him multiple times throughout the day, which eventually aided in allowing us to give him a trial of extubation. That day, as every day, Gretchen held the iPad for the patient to interact with his family so they could tell him they loved him.
Unfortunately, a couple of days later he decompensated and passed. A week later, a card from his family arrived thanking the entire staff for the care they gave the patient. His wife personally thanked Gretchen for all the time she spent coordinating video calls and making her husband look presentable for each encounter. She stated that without Gretchen's dedication and the extra time she took out of each shift, they would have never had so many positive memories at the end of his life.