Avarie Westbrook
July 2025
Avarie
Westbrook
,
RN
2 North Progressive Care
ECU Health Medical Center
Greenville
,
NC
United States
Not every patient has family that are in the area or present during the hospitalization, and Avarie has gone above and beyond for many of these patients acting as their family and support system throughout their stay here.
Avarie has been an established and dedicated nurse on 2NPC since 2019. As professionals in healthcare, we all know the importance of family during a time of illness. In her time here, Avarie has seen and experienced some of the best and hardest situations revolving around families. She has witnessed the importance of having family here at bedside during a hospitalization as a support system, increasing the patient’s drive to fight and uplifting their spirit.
She has also witnessed the banning of visitation during the COVID pandemic, and how the lack of support and communication during a hospitalization can defeat a patient and impair their healing process. Not every patient has family that are in the area or present during the hospitalization, and Avarie has gone above and beyond for many of these patients acting as their family and support system throughout their stay here.
One patient in particular, “Z”, was from out of the country and had zero support system here. All of Z’s family lived in a different country, creating a barrier when it came to speaking to them over the phone due to the time difference. That didn’t stop Z from talking with her mom and her sister every single day and showing us how important her family was to her. However, during the times that Z wasn’t on the phone, Avarie acted as her support system, pushing Z to continue to fight even though she was getting tired.
Avarie would sing with her while she was helping her exercise to motivate and lift her spirits. Ultimately, Z ended up in the ICU but asked for Avarie to come and see her. Avarie would go to visit Z on her days off or after she got off a 12 hour shift. Avarie would make sure that Z was still face timing her mom and her sister, and would joke the moment Z comes back to our floor, she was getting her a karaoke machine to sing her heart out. Z ended up intubated, but Avarie would still go visit, to make sure she wasn’t alone on her bad days. Z’s mother was able to fly from overseas eventually, but the airport lost her luggage. She had a very limited amount of clothes with her and Avarie would take her mother’s clothes home and wash them so they were clean.
After an extended and heartbreaking stay, Z’s mother made the decision to withdraw care. She asked Avarie to sit with her while they did it, telling Avarie that she had been like family while she was here, and Avarie held her mom while care was being withdrawn from Z. This is one of many instances that Avarie has acted as the patient’s rock, their family to lean on when they had nobody else, and immersed herself in the values ECU health stands for.
She has also witnessed the banning of visitation during the COVID pandemic, and how the lack of support and communication during a hospitalization can defeat a patient and impair their healing process. Not every patient has family that are in the area or present during the hospitalization, and Avarie has gone above and beyond for many of these patients acting as their family and support system throughout their stay here.
One patient in particular, “Z”, was from out of the country and had zero support system here. All of Z’s family lived in a different country, creating a barrier when it came to speaking to them over the phone due to the time difference. That didn’t stop Z from talking with her mom and her sister every single day and showing us how important her family was to her. However, during the times that Z wasn’t on the phone, Avarie acted as her support system, pushing Z to continue to fight even though she was getting tired.
Avarie would sing with her while she was helping her exercise to motivate and lift her spirits. Ultimately, Z ended up in the ICU but asked for Avarie to come and see her. Avarie would go to visit Z on her days off or after she got off a 12 hour shift. Avarie would make sure that Z was still face timing her mom and her sister, and would joke the moment Z comes back to our floor, she was getting her a karaoke machine to sing her heart out. Z ended up intubated, but Avarie would still go visit, to make sure she wasn’t alone on her bad days. Z’s mother was able to fly from overseas eventually, but the airport lost her luggage. She had a very limited amount of clothes with her and Avarie would take her mother’s clothes home and wash them so they were clean.
After an extended and heartbreaking stay, Z’s mother made the decision to withdraw care. She asked Avarie to sit with her while they did it, telling Avarie that she had been like family while she was here, and Avarie held her mom while care was being withdrawn from Z. This is one of many instances that Avarie has acted as the patient’s rock, their family to lean on when they had nobody else, and immersed herself in the values ECU health stands for.