Natalia McTighe
May 2021
Natalia
Mctighe
,
RN
Emergency Department
University Hospital, Newark
Newark
,
NJ
United States
It was truly a privilege to watch Natalia care for this patient and her family. She prioritized each aspect of this patient’s care, doing as much as possible to help her and her family while they were going through what I can only imagine being the most difficult moment of their lives.
I was helping out in the Emergency Department, and I was the nurse assigned to care for a terminally ill cancer patient. This patient was young, maybe in her 40s, with a family and several young children. She and her family were aware that a cure was not meant to be and that we could only offer comfort measures. The request for an inpatient bed was made, but it soon became apparent that this patient would probably pass within a few hours in the ER, without the privacy and comforts afforded by an inpatient room. Although we encounter death all too frequently in the ER, we do not often get the chance to talk to these patients and their families, to find ways to show true compassion and empathy, and to engage in comfort care measures while also juggling an assignment with other critically ill patients. Natalia did this by going above and beyond the standard of nursing care to make sure that this patient’s final moments brought peace to her and her family. While caring for this patient, Natalia embodied the difficult role that nurses have of being the coordinators of patient care; she worked diligently to communicate between the palliative team and the MDs. She treated the patient so kindly, making sure she was comfortable, warm, and dry from drainage – giving the utmost respect to the patient’s dignity. I remember helping her as she fought to keep managing the patient’s pain, which was more difficult than usual due to incorrect medication orders, delays in medication delivery, and a PCA pump equipment issue. She was on the phone with the resident and the pharmacy technician as many times as was needed to help mitigate the patient’s suffering. It was truly a privilege to watch Natalia care for this patient and her family. She prioritized each aspect of this patient’s care, doing as much as possible to help her and her family while they were going through what I can only imagine being the most difficult moment of their lives. Natalia made sure to encourage the patient’s young children and other family members all to come in and spend as much time with the patient as possible, collaborating with the charge nurse and other team members to allow for leniency with visitation rules. Although this may not seem extraordinary, this was still during the time of strict visitation due to COVID, in addition to small children not typically being allowed in the ER. Natalia also provided coloring materials and snacks for the comfort of the patient’s young children. We are often told as nurses “be an advocate for your patient”. This adage is easy to say but much harder to put into practice in a high-stress, fast-paced environment. But Natalia’s work is a true example of advocacy at the highest level. Natalia is always an incredible nurse to work with and to learn from. Her teamwork is exceptional, and she is never too busy to answer a question or help another team member. Natalia helped me navigate through the care of very critical patients when I was new to UH and unsure of myself, which meant so much and helped me to build my confidence. I always appreciate working with Natalia, and I wanted to recognize her so that my colleagues can know how much her mentorship has meant to me, what a wonderful nurse she is, and how valuable she is to our ER team.