As nurses, so very often we hear stories from our patients about difficult times they are facing outside of the hospital and there is little we can do to help them. This is one instance when the MMC team across all disciplines was able to make a profound difference, both in the lives of one special patient, one very special little girl, and a whole family as well.
It was two days before Christmas this year and a patient was admitted to R6 with an infection in her back. She had been out shopping and had some pain in her back where she had recently had surgery. Try as she might to ignore it, she ended up having to come into the hospital. She was admitted with hopes of surgery in the morning and to take care of the infection. I met her in the morning and she was ever so tearful, as many patients are who need to be in the hospital on Christmas. I tried to comfort her, but she was truly distraught.
Once she spoke with the team, they told her she would need to have dressing changes twice a day and that she would need a PICC line for antibiotics. She said she was ready to go; she'd had experience with a PICC line and could manage it. But because of the extent of her dressing changes, the team was not comfortable with her discharge. She was staying for Christmas against her wishes.
The wound care nurse Tricia Foley came to see her and helped the team to make this decision. Then she met with me and told me of why Christmas, but really this Christmas, was so important for her to be home. She had recently opened her home to her niece who has a young daughter seven years old. You see, she had never had any children of her own and for the first time ever she was getting ready to see a child's face on Christmas morning as she viewed the tree and saw that Santa had come. The patient had spent hours shopping and perfecting the most wonderful Christmas for her great niece and was devastated to think she would not be there to see her awe.
Tricia took the matter into her own hands. She was at MMC until nearly 6 PM the Friday before Christmas ensuring the plan could work and contacted the doctor and the care coordinator and made sure that the patient was given a pass to be able to make it out in time to wake her family up at 0330 with calls of "Ho, Ho, Ho, I'm home."
She said she hugged her great niece and then scooted into the living room so she could be the first one to see her eyes light up. She was able to stay for the three hours that it took to open all the gifts she had lovingly purchased and to spend time with her family. It was a wonderful time, thanks to Tricia Foley's efforts on her behalf.
The patient added:
"My heart will forever be grateful for so many people at MMC. Tricia Foley went above and beyond what was expected or medically needed. What Tricia made happen for me was a true Christmas miracle. I also feel like she was my Christmas angel and for the rest of my life, I will never forget the beautiful, kind gift that could not have happened if it weren't for Tricia. Thank you so very much Tricia!"
Had it not been for Tricia's advocacy and empathetic nature, this Christmas would have been missed and regretted for years to come.