Unfortunately, working on CMICU we are exposed to a lot of patient deaths. However, despite the high mortality, our nurses have never lost sight of their compassion. The story I want to tell is a perfect example of a nurse who did everything she could up until her patient's last breath. If you don’t know much about cardiac patients, know this, quite often, they are long-term residents on our unit awaiting advanced options for heart failure.

At the beginning of this year, we had a 32-year-old patient come in for an acute heart failure exacerbation. As many of them do, she required mechanical circulatory support, which limits out-of-bed activities. Despite her limited activity and limited visitation from family due to the pandemic, this patient fought hard for months so that one day she could make it back home to her kids and fiancé.

Unfortunately, her heart failure worsened, and we had no more options to treat it. We called her family to come to the bedside to be with her during her last moments. Alaina was her nurse this day. She had cared for her only a handful of times, but those times were enough to make an impact. On this last day with the patient’s entire family there, Alaina coordinated a wedding to take place right there in her room. This patient and her fiancé were joined in marriage just hours before her death. She also helped to collect funds to provide the family with gift cards to Walmart and a night to stay in the Brent House Hotel.

So often the dying process is consumed by grief, but for a few hours, that family got to be happy despite the circumstances. Alaina is a true advocate, and an even better nurse!