Emily Long
September 2023
Emily
Long
,
BSN, RN
CVICU
Methodist North Hospital
Memphis
,
TN
United States

 

 

 

I can’t convey in words the emotion behind this experience. We sat in the sun a few moments more before going back inside.
We have had a vent dependent patient that has been in ICU for several months now. We had considered moving him from an interior room to an exterior room with a view of the outside world. Eventually, we made that happen. We selected an exterior wall room where he can see the sun come up every morning and can see the treetops. Emily Long was his nurse this day. Jennifer Rodgers was charge nurse. Together, with the RT, we formulated a plan to move the patient to a better room. In addition, we sought approval from his medical team to take the patient outside on a travel vent. It was a beautiful, warm, sunny day, and we hoped it would lift the patient’s spirits. Let me tell you…. All our souls were fed on this journey. We bundled the patient up in warm blankets and made sure to take all the necessary steps/travel with all the equipment to safely transport him outside. We made our way out of the behavioral health doors and into the sunshine. R was walking down the sidewalk at this exact moment, and we joked about breaking our patient out of “jail.” The RT asked R to sing us a song. R stopped and belted out a moving gospel song, and the patient immediately started mouthing the words with R. We were all moved to tears. I can’t convey in words the emotion behind this experience. We sat in the sun a few moments more before going back inside. I’m not sure what the patient felt in those moments, but that evening, when his wife arrived, he told her all about it. Our hope is that it filled his soul with hope and motivated him to keep fighting the fight. It takes a village and our village banded together on this day to do amazing things. It’s not every day that we have the staffing, the RT help, or stable patients that we can step away from for a moment, but the stars aligned on this day, and I’m so thankful we seized the moment for this patient.