Abby is an exceptional nurse; It's clear every time she enters a patient's room. On this particular day, however, she went far above and beyond a caring and compassionate nurse.
Abby was caring for a patient with a terminal illness. He received very bad news in the morning. He told his kids he just wished he could go outside and see the sun. This patient was on a tremendous amount of oxygen. He was requiring opti-flow with FiO2 as high as 90% in addition to a nonrebreather at times.
Abby coordinated with RT and made a plan. She was able to get him into a cardiac chair. With the help of two other nurses and one RT, Abby was able to give a dying man a wish. She wheeled him out to the Garden of Life to the patio area. This was all done on opti-flow on a patient who was still considered critically ill and requiring 24/7 monitoring. She had him hooked up to a portable monitor and took him into the fresh air with 9 back-up up O2 tanks.
We went through 8 of the 9 O2 tanks. His kids and significant other were with him. They got to spend 30-45 minutes outside and the patient and his family loved it. It was absolutely heartwarming to see the joy this act brought to the patient and his family. Abby is an extraordinary nurse and NKCH is lucky to have her care for patients here.