We had a burn patient who was re-admitted back to our unit, 10-5 Med Surg, after having a failed graft. This patient had a great experience here on his previous admission and feared leaving the hospital again as he did not want to have his grafts fail again. This patient expressed that his best chance of this graft taking was only going to happen right here at UF Health. He had many setbacks with his wounds while here in the hospital and ended up staying on our unit for over 90 days. We got to know this patient, his parents, his wife, and their children while he was here on the unit. He was a man who loved to eat food brought from home and drink his Gatorade. One of our PCAs even bought food, with his own money, as the patient had expressed that he was tired of eating hospital food.

Then one night he was sent to the IMC/ICU to be evaluated for possible pulmonary embolism. The next night the patient called one of the staff and said he was ready to come back home to 10-5 Med Surg. The patient subsequently took a turn for the worse and was not going to make it out of the IMC/ICU area. The staff from the IMC/ICU area called 10-5 Med Surg and asked if one of the staff could come and be with the patient's wife as the patient was not doing well and was not expected to live.

The charge nurse on that night was Renata Staley, ASN, RN. Renata, being the caring, compassionate nurse that she is, did not hesitate to offer her assistance. Renata and one of the Patient Care Assistants, Kiara, went down to the IMC/ICU to comfort the patient's wife. Renata and Kiara both stayed with the wife as she was alone during this traumatic and tragic experience. Despite all efforts the patient ended up not making it through the night. Renata and Kiara continued to stay with the patient's wife until their children and his parents arrived. These two exceptional people, Renata and Kiara, provided the support and compassion that this patient's wife needed.