August 2020
Jackie
Gruszka
,
RN
9S-CV Surgery
Aurora St. Luke's Medical Center of Aurora Health Care Metro, Inc.
The patient was very grateful for this opportunity to spend time with her dog knowing she might not be discharged before the dog dies.
Jackie was caring for a patient who has had a long hospital stay with multiple complications. On this day, Jackie came to me to see if the patient's dog could come for a visit. The dog had been taken to the emergency vet the night before and was dying. Per our current restrictions, the dog would not be allowed to visit. However, it was very important to the patient to see the dog before it died. Jackie and I talked over possible solutions and decided to call the attending to see if he would give permission for the patient to leave the floor for a few minutes so she could meet her spouse with the dog in the car. The physician gave permission and Jackie made arrangements with the spouse to meet them outside so the patient could say goodbye to her dog. The patient was able to spend several minutes with the dog and take pictures with the dog to keep as memories. The patient was very grateful for this opportunity to spend time with her dog knowing she might not be discharged before the dog dies. She's been sharing the pictures she took with the staff and talking about how much this meant to her. I'm grateful for Jackie and her "outside the box" thinking to make this happen. This was the last time the patient would see the dog as it peacefully passed on the way home.