I had a patient in the Emergency Department who had a lot of dietary restrictions due to multiple digestive orders. He had been there all morning and was given the green light to eat by providers, and he told me, “I know they said I can eat, but you guys probably still can’t feed me; most hospitals don’t have many safe options for my diet.”

I asked Sam if she had any recommendations for snacks I could obtain for the patient, at least to hold him over until disposition. I informed her of the few items the patient informed me he could have, which included fruits like bananas and berries, but we both realized we were limited in fresh, hospital-supplied snacks.

Sam offered the patient her own fruit and offered packaged snacks of her own, encouraging him to read through the ingredients to make sure he could safely consume them.

The patient was incredibly grateful for Sam’s generosity, and he expressed his appreciation for Sam to me multiple times throughout the rest of his visit. In his words, “A little gesture like that goes a long way in making a patient’s visit a little less stressful. I’ve been to some of the most elite hospitals in the country, and I have never had a nurse so generous in all of my visits.”