Candace LaPlant
August 2021
Candace
Laplant
,
RN
Medical 7
Mercy Hospital South
St. Louis
,
MO
United States
Candace took this upon herself and spent the next 20 minutes in the room holding her hand until she passed.
Recently we had a patient on our floor who was COVID positive and nearing the end of her life. The patient had two sons very involved in her care. During the week, one of her sons had trouble processing the decline of his mother and was as you can imagine, visibly upset at times. On Friday, we knew she was close to passing and even more so into Friday night. The nurse caring for the patient, Candace, notified him and he wanted to come to say his final goodbyes to his mother. They were worried since he did have a 45-minute drive that he would not make it on time, but thankfully, he was able to make it here to spend those last few precious moments. He expressed to Candace that he did not want to be here when she took her final breath but did not want her to be alone. Candace took this upon herself and spent the next 20 minutes in the room holding her hand until she passed. Candace was able to honor her son’s wish and provide comfort to her patient at the end of her life. One nurse overheard Candace on the phone with the patient’s son and described her as being “so compassionate and caring”. The team also pulled together to send this family a sympathy card with the patient’s fingerprint.