Ben Scarborough
January 2022
Ben
Scarborough
,
RN
Float Pool
St. Francis-Emory Healthcare
Columbus
,
GA
United States
It truly was above and beyond. It turns out that Ben did not actually leave the hospital until after 0900 that morning.
I work in the CVICU at the hospital where Ben works. I have responded to a rapid response that was called on a patient of his. I can not remember the exact date of this instance but it has stood out to me so much so that I need to make sure the nurse is recognized.
This rapid response was called around 0600 and the shift change is at 0700. Without going into too much detail the patient ended up passing away. It was 0658 if I remember correctly. I know that post mortem care and paperwork can take a long time to complete so I stayed around to help finish a few of the forms before returning to my unit for shift change. I went to find Ben and tell him what I got completed. I couldn't find him but I left to give report on my patients.
Afterward, I returned to the floor where the rapid response was called to talk to Ben and see if he needed any more help. Again nobody had seen him. I went into the deceased patient's room where I found Ben and the patient care tech still cleaning the patient. They were bathing this patient. You could see by the time and the care they were taking that the pair genuinely cared for this person. The integrity of this pair was just shocking. Typically post mortem care would not take this long but they worked slowly gently and with intention. Ben still had a mountain of paperwork to fill out he had to give report to nurses for 5 other patients and give the daytime charge nurse a charge report but the only thing that mattered at that moment was that patient.
The amount care taken to make sure that this patient was treated with dignity and respect after death is not something you see every day. It truly was above and beyond. It turns out that Ben did not actually leave the hospital until after 0900 that morning. He put everything off to make sure the patient's final experience with him was the highest level of care. He did not pass it off to the next nurse to do. He did not ask another nurse to do it for him when he also had charge nurse duties to perform. He took the time to treat this person the way that anyone hopes to be treated when their time comes. The experience was inspiring and touching and one I will not soon forget
This rapid response was called around 0600 and the shift change is at 0700. Without going into too much detail the patient ended up passing away. It was 0658 if I remember correctly. I know that post mortem care and paperwork can take a long time to complete so I stayed around to help finish a few of the forms before returning to my unit for shift change. I went to find Ben and tell him what I got completed. I couldn't find him but I left to give report on my patients.
Afterward, I returned to the floor where the rapid response was called to talk to Ben and see if he needed any more help. Again nobody had seen him. I went into the deceased patient's room where I found Ben and the patient care tech still cleaning the patient. They were bathing this patient. You could see by the time and the care they were taking that the pair genuinely cared for this person. The integrity of this pair was just shocking. Typically post mortem care would not take this long but they worked slowly gently and with intention. Ben still had a mountain of paperwork to fill out he had to give report to nurses for 5 other patients and give the daytime charge nurse a charge report but the only thing that mattered at that moment was that patient.
The amount care taken to make sure that this patient was treated with dignity and respect after death is not something you see every day. It truly was above and beyond. It turns out that Ben did not actually leave the hospital until after 0900 that morning. He put everything off to make sure the patient's final experience with him was the highest level of care. He did not pass it off to the next nurse to do. He did not ask another nurse to do it for him when he also had charge nurse duties to perform. He took the time to treat this person the way that anyone hopes to be treated when their time comes. The experience was inspiring and touching and one I will not soon forget