October 2019
Sue Ann
Johnson
,
BSN, RN
Banner Casa Grande Medical Center
Casa Grande
,
AZ
United States

 

 

 

Recently, there was a code blue and ICU. Sue Ann had floated to the care unit and she came to me concerned about the patient coding. She had developed a relationship with a patient's sister K, and she showed concern that she needed to be there to comfort her sister. I let her go to the code to be support. The code had lasted for over an hour and I went to ICU to see what was happening. When I arrived at the unit, K had just gotten there and she immediately went to Sue Ann and hugged her. Sue Ann helped K throughout the entire episode and explained to her what was going on. They had their arms around each other as K watched the team try to revive her sister. K continuously asked for advice and information about the efforts taking place while she cried continuously and I could just sense that without Sue Ann, K would be in greater distress. The strength Sue Ann showed, helped K to be at ease with the process. She was able to say goodbye to her sister in peace because Sue Ann was there as her support system. I've have seen many codes take place at BCGMC and I have never seen anyone comfort family in the way Sue Ann did. She did it because it was the right thing to do and she did it because she cared. She had previous interactions with K a week before and even when she wasn't taking care of her sister at the time, Sue Ann still wanted to be there. Again, Sue Ann always amazes me because of her heart. She makes me a better nurse because I am inspired by her motivation, compassion, and delivery of extraordinary care.