Katie Andrews
March 2021
Katie J
Andrews
,
RN
Emergency Department
UnityPoint Health -Trinity Regional Medical Center
Fort Dodge
,
IA
United States
Katie’s actions gave the husband a ride that gave him time to sit and hold his wife's hand one last time.
Katie embodies the Focus Values that we strive for. As a newer nurse, she owned the moment when asked to take on a leadership role. It still makes me tear up as I write this. One busy night in the hospital, a cardiac arrest alert sounded overhead. ER staff had started CPR on an elderly woman. She had come to the ER by ambulance alone. Because of the snow, her husband was unable to drive to be with her. She passed away with her ER team by her side. We had to call her husband and deliver the worst, most unexpected news. After the physician spoke with her husband, Katie spoke with him. He told her how he didn't drive at night, but he wanted to come to see her one last time. He would try to get there. Katie owned her moment - she told him absolutely not. We would send a cab to come to pick him up. She called the cab company, explained we had a family emergency and needed someone picked up and brought him to the ER, and we would give them a cab voucher payment when they brought him. This is not our typical usage of the cab company, but the driver was agreeable to helping out. When the cab arrived Katie and I met them outside. The cab driver was in tears. The patient's husband had told him what happened. He also shared with him that they had been married for 71 years. She was the love of his life. Katie and the chaplain sat with him. Katie’s actions gave the husband a ride that gave him time to sit and hold his wife's hand one last time. When he was ready to go home she had the cab driver take him home, sending him off with a big hug and tears in her eyes. I see so many great things from so many people working here. But that night I saw a nurse go out of her way to make sure that a husband got to hold his wife's hand one last time. She truly made a difference that night.