October 2017
Brooke
Thomas
,
RN
ICU
Terre Haute Regional Hospital
Terre Haute
,
IN
United States

 

 

 

On a Saturday in June, on night shift I was caring for a patient in ICU who was involved in a motorcycle accident with her husband. The accident occurred on Saturday afternoon. The husband had minor injuries and was admitted to 4E. His wife had more severe non-life threatening injuries and was admitted to ICU. I was her nurse on night shift. She mentioned she hadn't heard much about her husband and was concerned. She was in a lot of pain but couldn't focus on herself out of concern for her husband. I called 4E to see if I could at least arrange a phone call between them and maybe a short visit. My co-worker and I coordinated a phone call between them. The husband was so relieved to hear her voice and vice versa. He was also in some pain at the time but both felt a little better after speaking. The wife mentioned she'd still feel better if she could just lay eyes on him. I called my co-worker back. She stated he was a mess with all of his injuries at that particular time but we agreed that after getting them both cleaned up with a bath and hair wash she would let them try to rest and arrange a visit in the AM. The husband was scheduled for surgery Sunday AM. I explained to the wife the plan that my co-worker and I had and she smiled at me the first time all night. We stayed in contact several times that night to give updates to each spouse because they were restless. She never acted too busy to talk to me and was very sweet on the phone each time I called. That morning I went to get the husband in a wheelchair. My co-worker made sure he had pain meds and was comfortable before leaving her unit. Both husband and wife were so happy to see one another! I had never met my co-worker face to face or spoken with her before but she was so kind and caring.