When working on the Child and Adolescent Unit one evening, a patient came in for admission with no belongings. She came from the hospital, and the only thing that she had on was a hospital gown. The patient was scared and embarrassed that she had no clothes and was refusing to come out of her room or do anything.
Meleah searched our laundry room and could not find anything appropriate for the patient to wear. We didn't have anything in her size. She called all the units to see if they had anything we could use or borrow to give to this girl to wear, but they didn't have anything either.
Meleah was going on vacation the next day and had her clothes and car already packed to go. She went out to her car and picked out three pairs of pants she thought that the patient might like. She came back in, took the strings out of the pants, and gave them to the patient to wear.
Meleah showed tremendous compassion that evening on C&A. She knew that this girl was feeling vulnerable and scared and went out of her way to give her own clothes to help the patient feel comfortable and secure. She showed this patient kindness and love that follows along with our Pine Rest mission statement. She showed Christian integrity and compassion to this child. She helped her feel like everything was going to be okay with that simple little gesture of giving of herself freely.