Kerri Wertman
June 2021
Kerri
Wertman
,
RN
8 Mountain ICU
Carilion Roanoke Memorial Hospital
Roanoke
,
VA
United States
Kerri, in full PPE, sat holding the hand of this dying man, making sure he was comfortable, and not alone until the very end.
Kerri had a patient who had been in the care of our physicians on 8MICU for several weeks. After many procedures, being downgraded and re-upgraded to us (several times), the family made the difficult decision to forego comfort care on said patient. They also chose not to be present when our team withdrew care. The circumstances related to the patient's admission may cause some people to pass judgment or look at him in a negative light. But the thing about nursing is, in the ICU especially, we typically see people at their very worst. Very rarely do we see a patient at their best. Our ICU was the chosen Covid-ICU for Roanoke Memorial Hospital and Kerri, in full PPE, sat holding the hand of this dying man, making sure he was comfortable, and not alone until the very end. This embodies the values and culture of nursing. We are there for our patients until the very end, even when families are not.