Katie Cannon truly exceeded what it means to be a remarkable nurse and human being. We had a patient on Heart and Vascular undergoing a cerebral angio with aneurysm repair. I had already been called to the bedside by the primary RN to do proactive service recovery; the patient had been delayed for several hours.

The patient was sweet, did not complain, and thanked me for the update. As I was speaking with the patient, Katie arrived with the patient’s husband. I found out her husband had lung cancer, was in between chemo treatments, and was extremely fatigued. He almost fell asleep standing up and was swaying from side to side; we got him in a chair immediately upon witnessing this. The patient verbalized her concern for her husband and waiting for him to rest; he had a 2-hour drive home.

Once Katie saw I was in the room, she could have easily gone about her day; this was not her assigned patient. However, Katie took it upon herself to find a solution for this family. Katie not only got the husband a recliner and blanket, but she also contacted the patient’s assigned unit post-procedure and arranged for the husband to be able to sleep in her assigned room during the procedure.

The husband refused to eat or accept a meal ticket, not wanting to make his NPO wife uncomfortable, although his wife wanted him to eat. Katie discreetly got his meal preferences from his wife and personally went down to get him food. She did this after his wife had gone in for her procedure, still respecting his wishes. Katie went so far beyond the call of duty to help a couple that truly needed assistance but were too prideful to ask. She recognized their unique and fragile situation and reacted in the most compassionate way.

The wife was brought to tears by Katie’s actions, and both she and her husband were extremely grateful.