Recently, Melissa told me a story of caring for one of our patients who had undergone a liver and now kidney transplant. I asked that Melissa send me the story in text so that I could share it on this forum. Melissa always goes above and beyond for her patients and this story is just one example of her compassionate nursing care:
I remember the first time I was assigned to him; he had a reputation of being a [difficult] patient, hard to understand, the typical patient with EtOH liver. I was nervous, but we bonded immediately, rang the bell together, walked the halls, even went outside for fresh air. He had two readmissions right after his initial transplant with complications. Every time I worked; I was assigned to him. Not sure if that was planned because I bonded so well and got him to open or what.
Right after his transplant his kidneys never bounced back and required dialysis to live, he was sad but felt he had new life. After about two weeks he was finally ready to go home with planned discharge the next day; I was not back but boy did I want to be there for him. At the end of the shift report, I went to tell him goodbye and the conversation started. He asked if I could just listen to him even if I did not say a word. This was the man that was "hard to deal with" but had so much he been dealing with that nobody knew about. I sat in his room until a little after 10 pm that night. We talked about everything. After about an hour he realized I was not going anywhere, so he got more personal and opened to me.
He had recently lost his son who died in his arms after a terrible car accident. He told me about his sister's death when he was a child that has affected him all his life because it was an accidental shooting with his gun that he taught her how to shoot. And about his ex-wife killing herself in front of their children. He cried so hard and I cried so hard, I hugged him, and we prayed together. He broke down and thanked me for staying knowing I was well beyond my shift. I knew I would see him again soon! I was asked if I wanted to come in Thursday last week because the floor was short, I said yes - low and behold I came in and he was walking the halls and had received his transplant! I immediately teared up; my heart was so full. I got to have him as my patient the next two days and was the one who discharged him. I came home with happy tears and crying now too! When I discharged him, he teared up and so did I. He and his wife thanked me for all the care and love they both received from me and told me they will never forget me.