We would like to recognize Toni Ankeny for going above and beyond for one of our patients on 4 West. We had a patient who came into the hospital recently due to frequent falls at home. He was confused and impulsive, which posed a safety concern that needed to be addressed. His family, who had been caring for him at home, had suddenly become unavailable due to a terminal condition in another family member. This, unfortunately, also prevented family members from being readily available to visit our patient. While on our unit, the patient recognized that his loved ones were no longer available to him and shared with our nurse, Toni, that he didn't trust strangers. Toni's heart went out to him as she strove to be considered a familiar face for the patient rather than just another stranger. Having this patient for several shifts in a row allowed her to do just that. Toni recalled her first shift with our patient. He often cried and cursed at himself because he felt so lonely. Toni frequently interacted with him to lift his spirits. She soon learned ALL sorts of things about our patient and the person that he was. She found out that he had a love for anime and many different styles of music. He had even been a drummer in a band! Since the patient did not have a phone to occupy his time, she decided to bring her own iPad to work her next shift. During the second shift together, Toni continued to interact with the patient, but as she would leave to tend to her other patients, she lovingly turned on the iPad for entertainment. With it, she played Naruto, a Japanese anime/manga series on Netflix. Toni would also mix it up with the music choices for our patient, being a fan of Red Hot Chili Peppers, the Beatles, and Metallica. Toni knew her efforts were worth it when she would catch her patient singing along to the private concert he had become a part of.

Thank you, Toni, for loving our patients and caring for them the way you do. You truly show the Service is Our Passion culture that we strive for here at UMC. We are grateful to have you as part of the team.