Recently, a patient was admitted to ICU, and unfortunately, his wife was also admitted on the 3rd floor. I noticed every day that Debbie was willing to take the patient's wife back and forth to make sure she was able to visit her husband in the ICU without being asked.
Both the patient and his wife are elderly. As a primary RN, I received the wrong information regarding the patient's wife's mental status and was told she was not able to make any decisions and that she was very confused. Debbie approached me and clarified that the patient's wife plays an important role in her husband's care, and suggested to me that I should involve her in the withdrawal care plan of her husband as we were about to withdraw his life support. Not only did Debbie talk with us about this situation, but she also brought the patient's wife a couple of times a day, several days a week, to visit her husband.
I believe the patient's wife would have missed a golden opportunity to participate in her husband's care if Debbie was not there to clarify for me her mental status. It was beautiful to witness how happy and satisfied she was to participate, although she was going through such a tough time.
Thank you, Debbie. You touched our hearts with your compassionate action towards this couple.