We had a 16-year-old patient in CVCICU who was very sick. He stayed on our unit for over 3 months and became part of our team. We generally don't have pediatric patients, but this was a special case and he was a very special patient. Being a 16-year-old teenager, stuck in the hospital, with limited visitors allowed due to COVID-19, he was not able to see his parents or siblings.
All our nurses showed this patient great compassion, but one nurse went above and beyond in making this child feel like he wasn't just stuck within the 4 walls of the ICU. Eric Schauer went the extra mile in making this child's last few weeks of life as enjoyable as can be.
Eric would come in early on his shifts to spend time with this patient. Eric played video games with this patient to make life as normal as can be for a teenager. Although Eric works the night shift, he made the extra effort of helping this patient ambulate outside to get just a few minutes of fresh air. Even when Eric wasn't his nurse, he still spent all his downtime with this patient.
Eric surpassed our expectations of an exemplary nurse - he truly deserves recognition for the way he treated this patient.