First, in the words of the patient himself, "Caitlin Carozza was funny and smart and gave me good medicine. She helped me out all the way, until the end." It's hard for him to put into words, but Caitlin immediately established a very warm rapport with Z. She checked in on him (and me) above and beyond the normal call of duty with frequency, warmth and a ready smile. One day, a therapy dog was on the unit. When Z heard, he was so excited. Unfortunately, the dog left the unit without visiting Z.
Later we learned that he was accidentally marked as not wanting visits from therapy dogs. In true hero fashion, Caitlin sprang into action and chased the therapy dog down, going all the way to the lobby to keep the front desk on the lookout. Z had a great visit with the dog, it really put a smile on his face, and that was thanks to Caitlin.
I think that I did not realize the full impact that she had on Z until we were (unfortunately) readmitted. On his first loop of the unit, Z stopped abruptly and asked: "Do you hear a familiar voice?" Delirious with exhaustion I had no idea what he meant, but soon came to find out that he had heard Caitlin's voice in the nurse's office.
On his second loop of the unit, Z appeared to be rather nosey, appearing to look into every room we passed. When I gently reminded him to respect privacy- he let me know that he was only looking at the nursing assignments on the door. This was to try and map out Caitlin's whereabouts. That day she took time out of her busy assignment to come spend a few moments with Z. Getting readmitted was hard on him, but Caitlin was able to put a smile on his face.