"A patient on our unit was discharged home to stay with her aunt via ambulance. The patient had a stroke in the past, which left her with AMS, a tracheostomy, and being non-verbal and dependent on bolus tube feeding via a PEG for all her nutrition and medication needs. Later in the shift, around 2200, the patient's aunt called and advised that the patient was sent home without her tube feeding and supplies to give the bolus feedings. Erin went to the patient's room and, in the closet, found a box that had "SEND HOME WITH PATIENT" written on it multiple times. In the box were the patient's tube feeding and the equipment needed for the bolus feedings. Erin called the patient's aunt back to let her know that she had found the tube feeding and to see if there was anyone who would be able to come and pick it up. Unfortunately, the aunt could not come because she was the only one home with the patient, and no one else she knew would be able to come and get it because of how far away they were. The patient and her aunt lived in a small town almost 2 hours away. The house supervisor was called to see if the currier service would be able to take the items to the patient, and they were told that the earliest they could get someone to them would be in the morning. When Erin found this out, she immediately volunteered to take the tube feeding and supplies to the patient because, without it, the patient wouldn't have any nutrition or medications for at least another 10- 12 hours on top of the 5 hours that had already passed. Erin left the hospital at 2300 and drove 2 hours in the middle of the night to make sure the patient had what she needed. The aunt of the patient was extremely grateful that someone would do this for her and her niece. After dropping off the tube feeding, and supplies, Erin turned around and drove another 2 hours back to the hospital to finish the rest of her shift. Through her actions, Erin showed our unit what it really means to put the patient first. She really went above and beyond, making sure this patient had what they needed."
"A patient was discharged from our unit via EMS that lived 2 hours away. While in the hospital, the patient had a peg tube placed for nutrition and required a special type of formula for feeding that took a couple of days to find before the patient could be discharged. The formula was left behind by EMS, and when Erin came in for her night shift, she contacted the family and made arrangements with them to bring the formula to the patient's house, which was 2 hours away. Erin spent 4 hours total driving to get this patient her much-needed nutrition. She always puts patients first, and her compassion to serve is incomparable."