Deb Akins
April 2024
Deb
Akins
,
RN
Short Stay Unit
CHI Memorial Hospital
Chattanooga
,
TN
United States

 

 

 

You will never know what these acts of kindness means to patients and their families when they are going through a traumatic situation.
Deb Atkins was so attentive and made sure my husband was comfortable. Besides taking care of him, she wanted me to be comfortable as I stayed with him. She has a true calling from God for her profession. To learn that my husband had a heart attack and needed to have a stent put in so unexpectedly was terrifying to me. After the stent was put in, my husband's sheath had to be removed from his incision which took several hours for the bleeding to stop. When it was time, she asked me to leave the room (which was protocol) and wait in the waiting area. She walked me out and told me she'd come back and get me when he was ready. As I sat there, I heard an announcement for “Rapid Response." All I could think of was my husband was bleeding to death (since there was a chance he could bleed when the sheath was removed). To my surprise, Deb came out shortly after I heard the announcement and asked if I was ready to go back to the room. When she saw me, she asked what was wrong. I told her I heard the announcement and knew something was wrong. She said she had not heard the announcement. She immediately took my hand and said “we need to pray”. She prayed that God would give me peace and that he would be with my husband and asked that he not die until he had finished his purpose on earth. It was such a beautiful prayer! After the prayer, she asked me to tell her two incidents where God has answered prayer, and I did. I immediately felt better and experienced peace and my husband is doing well now. There were so many other acts of kindness from Deb, but this one is forever etched in my mind. God blessed us with Deb for one night of our lives and we will always be grateful. You will never know what these acts of kindness means to patients and their families when they are going through a traumatic situation.