Josh made a huge impact on my grandad's care. Josh was with my grandad for three nights in the MICU. Of these three nights, two nights were very eventful nights where things did not go as planned. Josh was on top of it and made sure to get the doctor involved and get orders in place to provide the necessary care to attempt to improve his condition. The first night he came in with a very positive attitude and that made a huge difference for the morale of my grandparents. My granny felt comfortable to go home that night with him being in Josh's hands. Unfortunately, into the early morning hours, my grandad's oxygen levels decreased and he began to decompensate. Josh ensured that my granddad was comfortable and taken care of at that moment. He also made sure my granny was informed by the doctor of changes in his condition.
When my granny arrived at the hospital, Josh was there to help answer her questions in her state of shock. Josh took the time out of his schedule to ensure she understood what was going on and what treatment was in place. The next night Josh took the time when he first came in to ensure my grandad was comfortable and everything was correct for his care at the beginning of his shift. Josh also took the time to make sure he answered questions my granny or I had about his recent x-ray and bloodwork. I, as a nurse, ask a lot of questions, but Josh took the time to answer my questions and make sure that I was comfortable with what UVA was doing for my grandad. We asked a very serious question about his condition and Josh was very candid with us to answer the question directly.
Josh made sure that my granny had everything she needed to be comfortable since she was staying the night and had not had any sleep the night before due to worrying about my grandad all night. My grandad had a really bad day that Thursday and my granny did not eat very much. Josh even offered to share his Taco Bell lunch with her to ensure she would eat something that night. Josh had a chaplain come see my granny in the late hours of Thursday night to ensure she had someone there to help support her through this difficult time.
Early Friday morning things began to go south again. The MICU team all worked together to attempt to stabilize my grandad's decreasing condition. Josh made sure to ensure my granny that he would give her updates as soon as he could. Even though Josh was busy trying to stabilize him he stopped and sat down on the couch with my granny to update her of the changes being made with adding additional blood pressure medications, the additional IV line to more accurately measure his blood pressure and the increase in sedation level due to him not being able to maintain his blood pressure.
This was a very scary time for my granny to see all these people working on my grandad, but Josh took that minute to stop and make sure she knew what was going on and was comfortable with the changes in his plan. Josh is an exceptional nurse who exudes compassion, empathy, and kindness. Josh did not only take care of the patient but also the patient's wife who was dealing with a very difficult situation and had many periods of being in shock. Josh made that connection with my grandparents and when my granddad was coherent the first night, he looked forward to knowing Josh was going to be with him that night as he had been with him a night earlier in the week. I can't thank Josh enough for the care he provided to my grandad and Granny to get them through the difficult situation that was faced. Unfortunately, Josh will not see him at the grocery store as we had hoped.
Note: This is Josh's 2nd DAISY Award!