We had a patient who came into our suite for a bronchoscopy. She arrived tightly holding onto a little black stuffed cat, visibly stressed about being in the hospital. When asked, she said she was scared and had trouble explaining her fears. Susan jumped right in, explaining everything to her to help calm her. This helped for a few minutes until the anesthesia team was ready to place an IV in her arm. While they were getting ready to tie the tourniquet, she began crying. The anesthesia team tried to calm her down while another still tried to place the IV.

Susan calmly asked her what was going on. The patient said she had a fear of needles. Susan calmly discussed this fear with her. This made the patient calm down. Susan praised the anesthesia team's skills and helped gain the patient's trust, allowing them to continue with the IV placement. During the insertion, Susan, along with our attending, asked more questions of the patient while holding her hand the entire time. This not only distracted her but allowed her to trust us.

Susan's interest and compassion for this patient fit into the Jefferson CICARE model. Susan saved this patient from postponing the procedure while also building trust that the patient could proceed. Susan is exceptionally calming to every patient. However, I was blown away by how well she turned this negative situation around.