As DOU became the designated COVID-19 unit, the nursing team strived to provide the best care, to every patient every time, in the most challenging circumstances. As nurses, we go home after a long tiring shift with a full heart knowing that we gave our best.
I would like to share this story about a night when a particular patient in DOU was dying. Carmen talked to the patient's daughter on the telephone to update her on her father's impending death. The patient's daughter asked Carmen to do the best she could to keep her father alive as she was rushing to the hospital to see him before his last breath. While waiting for the daughter, Carmen arranged for a priest to give the patient his last rites. She stayed with the patient and prayed for him, she prayed that he might stay alive so his daughter can be with him.
Carmen shared with us that she could still remember looking at the patient and holding his hand with her left hand and while her right hand was holding the iPad for the priest to bless him.
She made sure that the patient was not alone. She remembers hearing the daughter running in the hallway and frantically putting on the PPE before entering the room when the monitor showed a flatline.
The patient's daughter thanked her for being with her father till his last breath.
Carmen showed extreme compassion to her patient and empathy to the family. She exemplified Kaiser Permanente's Professional Practice Model by promoting a caring, patient-centered environment. She not only took care of her patient's physical needs but also his spiritual needs and made sure that he was not alone in his last breath. A quote from Carmen, "Make every patient's suffering not forgotten, thanking the Lord that all our work is not in vain, thanking the Lord for showing me the way to make a difference, come what may".