Jack Hoving
January 2025
Jack
Hoving
,
BSN, RN
D3 Medical/Surgical
Northwestern Medicine Lake Forest Hospital
Lake Forest
,
IL
United States
Jack made a huge difference in my son’s life. His education, patience, professionalism, approach, proactiveness, and most of all his heart was visible to us at every step of my son’s care.
My son was a patient of yours over the holidays. He was visiting friends when, unexpectedly, he ended up with a bowel obstruction emergency surgery and an over 7 day hospitalization. This event was traumatic for us as a family as we had to quickly gather from different parts of the country to be there and support him. We also did not know anyone in the area and everything was new and unknown to us.
During his stay, he had many staff members taking care of him, and the care he received was good overall. On one of those holiday weekdays, we met Jack Hoving, RN. Sitting on the couch by the window, I observed that within the first 30 min, Jack was able to establish a connection with my son that was beyond “How are you feeling today.” From there, he was very proactive, anticipating needs before they became call lights and requests, which, from a patient’s perspective, is huge. He was efficient and effective, with a great deal of emotional intelligence and compassion.
On the last day of our stay, the surgeon examined my son and, in the process, discovered that he needed to take the last two staples out of his incision. He instructed my son on how to pack this, now open wound twice per day. As he was explaining this, Jack was standing in the corner observing and clearly could see my son losing all the color in his face and anxiety rising. Once the doctor left our room, my son looked up at Jack and me and said, “I am not doing this; I will not be putting anything inside of my body as he did.” His anxiety was through the roof, and he had that sad, helpless look that every mother dreads to see in their child’s eyes. I, on the other hand, jumped into finding a solution and asked if a social worker could come by so we could find out what resources might be available to us, specifically Home Health to help my son with this task. Jack called and scheduled a social worker to come in right away. And then he turned around looked at my son and said “We are going to line up resources for you, you’re not going to be left alone on this. But what I would like to ask you is to please trust me right now and let me teach you how to do this. Let me explain to you what this is, and let me try and make you feel more comfortable with this process. You are young, you can do this, and I have all the faith in you that you will be able to do this yourself and the outcome will be just great; will you give me a chance?” My son, in all of his anxiety, looked up at Jack and said, “OK, if you think so”… and then, I was in awe watching this nurse first draw pictures on the whiteboard explaining layers in my son’s stomach lining, then he taught him step by step how to pack this opening while reading discharge instructions and having my son do it himself. There was nothing technical about his approach - he was professional and knowledgeable, but most of all, the confidence that he was instilling in my son step-by-step was so obvious. When they were done, my son looked up at him, I think his color was back in his cheeks, and he said, “That wasn’t too bad, I think I could do this by myself, I think I feel comfortable going home and doing this by myself. Thank you Jack. I will never forget this”. Jack shrugged his shoulders and said, “Thank you for trusting me and for giving me the opportunity to help you. You will do just great”.
Twelve very cold days later, my son had a follow-up appointment with the surgeon, who cleared him to come back home and praised him for taking such good care of his open wound. “It’s all thanks to a nurse named Jack,” he said to the surgeon. In healthcare, what we do each day is important - but how we do it and how we go about it makes the patient experience. Jack made a huge difference in my son’s life. His education, patience, professionalism, approach, proactiveness, and, most of all, his heart was visible to us at every step of my son’s care. Most of all, he provided extraordinary compassionate care to an unknown, scared young man and helped him learn and heal. And that was huge. You never truly know the impact we have on those around us. Jack (unknowingly) had a tremendous impact on our family, and we are forever grateful. You are lucky to have him on your staff.
During his stay, he had many staff members taking care of him, and the care he received was good overall. On one of those holiday weekdays, we met Jack Hoving, RN. Sitting on the couch by the window, I observed that within the first 30 min, Jack was able to establish a connection with my son that was beyond “How are you feeling today.” From there, he was very proactive, anticipating needs before they became call lights and requests, which, from a patient’s perspective, is huge. He was efficient and effective, with a great deal of emotional intelligence and compassion.
On the last day of our stay, the surgeon examined my son and, in the process, discovered that he needed to take the last two staples out of his incision. He instructed my son on how to pack this, now open wound twice per day. As he was explaining this, Jack was standing in the corner observing and clearly could see my son losing all the color in his face and anxiety rising. Once the doctor left our room, my son looked up at Jack and me and said, “I am not doing this; I will not be putting anything inside of my body as he did.” His anxiety was through the roof, and he had that sad, helpless look that every mother dreads to see in their child’s eyes. I, on the other hand, jumped into finding a solution and asked if a social worker could come by so we could find out what resources might be available to us, specifically Home Health to help my son with this task. Jack called and scheduled a social worker to come in right away. And then he turned around looked at my son and said “We are going to line up resources for you, you’re not going to be left alone on this. But what I would like to ask you is to please trust me right now and let me teach you how to do this. Let me explain to you what this is, and let me try and make you feel more comfortable with this process. You are young, you can do this, and I have all the faith in you that you will be able to do this yourself and the outcome will be just great; will you give me a chance?” My son, in all of his anxiety, looked up at Jack and said, “OK, if you think so”… and then, I was in awe watching this nurse first draw pictures on the whiteboard explaining layers in my son’s stomach lining, then he taught him step by step how to pack this opening while reading discharge instructions and having my son do it himself. There was nothing technical about his approach - he was professional and knowledgeable, but most of all, the confidence that he was instilling in my son step-by-step was so obvious. When they were done, my son looked up at him, I think his color was back in his cheeks, and he said, “That wasn’t too bad, I think I could do this by myself, I think I feel comfortable going home and doing this by myself. Thank you Jack. I will never forget this”. Jack shrugged his shoulders and said, “Thank you for trusting me and for giving me the opportunity to help you. You will do just great”.
Twelve very cold days later, my son had a follow-up appointment with the surgeon, who cleared him to come back home and praised him for taking such good care of his open wound. “It’s all thanks to a nurse named Jack,” he said to the surgeon. In healthcare, what we do each day is important - but how we do it and how we go about it makes the patient experience. Jack made a huge difference in my son’s life. His education, patience, professionalism, approach, proactiveness, and, most of all, his heart was visible to us at every step of my son’s care. Most of all, he provided extraordinary compassionate care to an unknown, scared young man and helped him learn and heal. And that was huge. You never truly know the impact we have on those around us. Jack (unknowingly) had a tremendous impact on our family, and we are forever grateful. You are lucky to have him on your staff.