Thomas Barringer
November 2025
Thomas
Barringer
,
RN CC
Emergency Services
Vanderbilt University Medical Center
Nashville
,
TN
United States
Thomas is the kind of nurse that a patient doesn't forget. That kindness and determination made a really difficult trip to the ED feel manageable.
My husband has a spinal cord injury and is a full-time wheelchair user. We came into the ED at 6 pm with severe UTI symptoms. Thomas was one of the first nurses we came into contact with in the first few minutes of our visit, and he was absolutely lovely. His shift unfortunately ended at 7 pm, so we figured that would be the last time we saw him.
By the time we were triaged, had our test completed, and doctors gave us word that we were going to be admitted, it was about 2 am. When Thomas arrived back at work the following morning at 7 am and saw that we were still in the waiting room, 13 hours later, he immediately sprang into action. My husband and I are completely understanding of long waits, especially in hospitals that receive level 1 trauma cases, but even we could admit that this was becoming unmanageable for my husband, as he had been in his wheelchair for over 10-12 consecutive hours at this point.
Thomas did not leave any stone unturned on his mission to find my husband a bed. Thomas reached out to managers, charge nurses of multiple units, coordinated with the other nurses in the ED, as well as the doctors, to make sure that my husband would have a bed as soon as possible. By 9 am, we had multiple people from the hospital approaching us and apologizing profusely for our predicament. All of these individuals cited that they were notified of the situation by Thomas. Thomas works in a very busy ED caring for multiple patients in a high-stress, fast-paced environment, but even so, he made time to go above and beyond to ensure that the patient experience of my husband was what it should be. It would have been incredibly understandable in his position to message one person for an update on our transfer and leave it at that, but if he had not taken the time to make such a marked difference in our treatment, it was very likely my husband would have ended up with pressure sores and likely still would not have been able to sleep. Thomas is the kind of nurse that a patient doesn't forget. That kindness and determination made a really difficult trip to the ED feel manageable.
By the time we were triaged, had our test completed, and doctors gave us word that we were going to be admitted, it was about 2 am. When Thomas arrived back at work the following morning at 7 am and saw that we were still in the waiting room, 13 hours later, he immediately sprang into action. My husband and I are completely understanding of long waits, especially in hospitals that receive level 1 trauma cases, but even we could admit that this was becoming unmanageable for my husband, as he had been in his wheelchair for over 10-12 consecutive hours at this point.
Thomas did not leave any stone unturned on his mission to find my husband a bed. Thomas reached out to managers, charge nurses of multiple units, coordinated with the other nurses in the ED, as well as the doctors, to make sure that my husband would have a bed as soon as possible. By 9 am, we had multiple people from the hospital approaching us and apologizing profusely for our predicament. All of these individuals cited that they were notified of the situation by Thomas. Thomas works in a very busy ED caring for multiple patients in a high-stress, fast-paced environment, but even so, he made time to go above and beyond to ensure that the patient experience of my husband was what it should be. It would have been incredibly understandable in his position to message one person for an update on our transfer and leave it at that, but if he had not taken the time to make such a marked difference in our treatment, it was very likely my husband would have ended up with pressure sores and likely still would not have been able to sleep. Thomas is the kind of nurse that a patient doesn't forget. That kindness and determination made a really difficult trip to the ED feel manageable.