May 2023
Beth
DeJong
,
RN
ICU
Intermountain Health LDS Hospital
Salt Lake City
,
UT
United States
One day, Beth brought a pocket penguin (small stuffed animal) in for the patient. They talked about stress and anxiety and how it's okay to be dealing with things and talk about them. Another day, Beth just sat and watched TV with the patient and talked about cooking shows.
I am typing this story in behalf of the family member. She was unable to put all her appreciation down in words but expressed her gratitude for this caregiver every day. This patient had several reservations about being at LDS ICU. The patient and wife were trying to seek medical help outside Intermountain. Their situation did not make this a possible idea. So, starting off, their stay was full of frustration, anxiety, stress, and worry. Patient advocacy and leadership were involved to help the situation, and it did not seem to help. A few days later Beth was the chare nurse, she knew their was some concerns with the patient wanting to leave and having increased anxiety. She decided she was going to do what she could do. She started by spending time with the family; she sat down and let the patient and the spouse express all their concerns. Beth listened and repeated back their concerns. After some time, the couple felt heard. Then, instead of leaving the room, she asked if they could talk about some good things in life. They talked about gardening and pets. She gave the patient homework, and they were going to share pictures of pets the next day. As Beth was on each shift, she rounded on this couple. The conversations would start with the frustrations and then would move to the good things in life. As time went on, the frustrations became less, and the good things became more. The wife felt more comfortable with leaving her husband in our care so she could go home and get some rest. Eventually, the wife would ask every day if Beth was going to be there that day. One day, Beth brought a pocket penguin (small stuffed animal) in for the patient. They talked about stress and anxiety and how it's okay to be dealing with things and talk about them. Another day, Beth just sat and watched TV with the patient and talked about cooking shows. Beth asked if it was difficult watching cooking shows because at that time, he couldn't eat anything. He said it was just fine because he liked to watch them anyway. This patient's diagnosis was not going to turn out well. Beth helped them work through this process and how they wanted to say goodbye to each other. The patient decided he wanted to have a jumbo shrimp lunch, and then his wife would go home, and then he would pass away. Beth arranged the lunch and they all sat together and enjoyed each other's company one last time. The patient passed away, and Beth gave her a call and informed her. The wife called a few more times during the next few days to talk with Beth for just a little bit. The pocket penguin is still sitting in the patient's chair at home. Beth is a phenomenal nurse who took this family under her care and loved them through it all.