Jeff
Holdeman
December 2012
Jeff
Holdeman
,
RN
Med-Surg/ICU
Kittitas Valley Healthcare
Ellensburg
,
WA
United States
It was an honor to present our first DAISY Award at Kittitas Valley Community Hospital to Registered Nurse Jeff Holdeman as a thank you for keeping patients and their families at the center of his daily work. Jeff is a known leader in the department who consistently demonstrates a love for nursing and for the hospital, always going above and beyond to help patients, physicians and coworkers.
Recently, Jeff admitted and cared for a dying patient on the Medical Surgical Unit and was described by the patient’s daughter as very professional and very compassionate, always providing forthright communication, even though it was not what she wanted to hear- that her father was dying. Her father was a long standing member of our community who was a retired professor of music at CWU. Not only was he a beloved member of our community, but also a husband, father and friend to many, with a lifelong love of music.
While her father was dying, Jeff and the patient care team arranged for family, staff and students from CWU to play violin, cello and viola music around the clock to provide comfort to the patient and the family during his death, playing all of his favorite music for several days. The daughter stated that having the musicians at her father’s bedside was amazing and gave the family a sense of blessed closure, as her father’s life had come full circle. The music that filled the med-surg hallways had a tremendous impact on all of the staff and patients in the department. In fact, a close family friend of the patient was also passing away just two doors down, and the music was incredibly comforting to both families. I was on the floor after the patient passed away and the family was leaving, stopping by the nurse’s station to give Jeff a final big hug and say thank you. And all of this was happening in the middle of our Department of Health Survey.
The daughter of this patient now lives in San Francisco and said she was “overwhelmed by the sense of community” both in and out of the hospital. Agencies and ancillary services of the community and hospital worked so well together, she said it was “the five most grace filled days of my life”. It is nurses like Jeff that touch our patients’ lives and promote KVCH in the community as a great place to receive care. Thank you Jeff, for everything you do for our patients.
Recently, Jeff admitted and cared for a dying patient on the Medical Surgical Unit and was described by the patient’s daughter as very professional and very compassionate, always providing forthright communication, even though it was not what she wanted to hear- that her father was dying. Her father was a long standing member of our community who was a retired professor of music at CWU. Not only was he a beloved member of our community, but also a husband, father and friend to many, with a lifelong love of music.
While her father was dying, Jeff and the patient care team arranged for family, staff and students from CWU to play violin, cello and viola music around the clock to provide comfort to the patient and the family during his death, playing all of his favorite music for several days. The daughter stated that having the musicians at her father’s bedside was amazing and gave the family a sense of blessed closure, as her father’s life had come full circle. The music that filled the med-surg hallways had a tremendous impact on all of the staff and patients in the department. In fact, a close family friend of the patient was also passing away just two doors down, and the music was incredibly comforting to both families. I was on the floor after the patient passed away and the family was leaving, stopping by the nurse’s station to give Jeff a final big hug and say thank you. And all of this was happening in the middle of our Department of Health Survey.
The daughter of this patient now lives in San Francisco and said she was “overwhelmed by the sense of community” both in and out of the hospital. Agencies and ancillary services of the community and hospital worked so well together, she said it was “the five most grace filled days of my life”. It is nurses like Jeff that touch our patients’ lives and promote KVCH in the community as a great place to receive care. Thank you Jeff, for everything you do for our patients.