Words cannot begin to describe this situation in its entirety, but the idea and concept behind The DAISY Award embodies what occurred on this very shift. I was assigned a patient who had a discharge order in place. I, along with the patient, were under the impression that social services were arranging for his discharge. As I waited for the call regarding his pick-up time, he fielded multiple phone calls from his wife asking when she could expect him. You see, his wife was at home suffering from early-onset dementia and had never spent a night, let alone days, apart from what he called "her soulmate." He assured her, and the caretaker, that he would be home later that evening and no coverage was needed to care for his wife that same night. To our surprise, at 6 pm, we came to find out social service had not arranged for transport. He lived 1 hour and 45 minutes away and had no family other than his wife, thus leaving him dependent on social service for arrangements. At this point, he was distraught and tearful, but never disrespectful, yet thankful, for the nursing care provided. He assured me, he typically wouldn't have minded waiting another day but needed to be home for his wife, who needed him and was scared.
I called social services and they directed me to contact the system's transport services. I did just that only to find out there would be a cost of $400.00 out of pocket for patient transport services, and the transportation could not be set up that evening. The patient calmly voiced his anguish but accepted the situation as it was and said he had no other options. At this time he began calling the caretaker to ensure proper care for his wife would be available. He came to find out the coverage he had given up was no longer available. He then began to truly struggle with finding coverage or transportation so he could provide his wife with not only care but mental comfort as well.
I approached the desk upset and finding it hard to believe that as a health care system that was the best we could do, $400.00 out of pocket? At that point, the charge nurse realized I was upset and asked what she could do to help me catch up for I had already spent over an hour trying to facilitate the discharge. She assured me we would find a solution and even went into the room to sit with the patient and speak to him about possible solutions, while I cared for my other patients.
In the end, a solution was reached that not only saved the patient hundreds of dollars, but his insurance company as well by facilitating the discharge as was written for that day. I immediately escalated his discharge instructions and he was well on his journey home to be with his wife. He couldn't have been more appreciative of the care and the extension of compassion that was offered to him. He said he felt like we were angels in disguise, but truly it was Bethany, who went above and beyond, and in doing so not only brought tears to his eyes but mine as well. Moments like this remind me of why I chose this profession and why I feel blessed to work alongside others who feel and act in that very manner. Thank you, Bethany, for one of these moments!