Lynn Szubzda, RN was caring for a patient who was admitted with heart failure and transferred from an outlying facility for LVAD/heart transplant workup. In report, she was told that the patient was not too friendly and was quite needy during the shift. Upon introducing herself and providing an update on the goals for the evening, Lynn asked what she could do for him. He gave her a list of things. After taking care of his needs and caring for him for 2 weeks, Lynn formed a bond with him and his wife. They started sharing life experiences and challenges they had overcome. As the weeks passed the patient began to decline in health and decided against the LVAD and was subsequently placed on the transplant list. After weeks of waiting, the heart failure team along with the family decided to place the patient in comfort care.
In the beginning, Lynn talked with the patient about his wishes and he told her he wanted to make it to his birthday, which was a leap year. During Lynn's last shift, she decided to do something special for the patient since she knew he would probably not be there when she returned from her days off. She pulled the wife aside and told her she was planning something for his birthday. As the patient was very proud of being from the south, Lynn found a southern birthday song (the lyrics had things in it like fried chicken, biscuits, etc) changed it to fit the needs of the patient and shared it with his wife. The wife hugged Lynn and commented that he was going to love it. She also went to the gift shop and bought some balloons, a bag of his favorite candy and a crystal guardian angel with a birthday card that was signed by the nursing team. Lynn pulled the nursing team together and they sang the song Lynn wrote for him. As he opened his gifts, she told the wife to hang the guardian angel in her window and every time she sees a rainbow of light she will think of her husband. The wife turned and said she would place the angel in her car and every time she sees a ray of light she would know that her husband and Lynn would be watching over her.
The patient passed away two days later and the wife came back to the unit to see Lynn. She wanted to express her sincere appreciation for what she had done for them. In getting to know them, Lynn had learned that the patient had been estranged from his daughter. Lynn had encouraged the patient to reach out to his daughter in his final days to bring everyone peace and so they could hear each other's voice one last time.