Jenny Cooper
December 2012
Jenny
Cooper
,
RN
ICU
MedStar Franklin Square Medical Center
Baltimore
,
MD
United States

 

 

 

Jenny Cooper, RN, is always going above and beyond to provide exceptional care for her patients. No matter what she has to do, she strives to make her patients heal faster and feel better. When there is no hope for physical healing, she goes to the ends of the earth to make her patients as comfortable and happy as possible in their last days or moments. Jenny will run to the pharmacy for PCA pain medications to prevent delay in the patient's comfort and pain relief. She will even use her own money to get the patient their favorite last meal or snack.

The best example I can give, is one of a patient who had an incurable disease and had been dependent on a ventilator for quite some time. The patient and her family decided that it was time to remove the ventilator, keep the patient comfortable, and allow her to pass away peacefully. This patient could not survive long enough to go home, and her only wish was for a piece of red velvet cake and a cigarette. Prior to the extubation, Jenny had called the cafeteria kitchen and got red velvet cupcakes for the patient and her family. She then searched high and low to find someone with a cigarette to spare for the patient. After these items were acquired the patient received her necessary medications for comfort. Then, Jenny closed off the patient's room and made it safe for the patient to smoke her last cigarette that she had longed for. Once all the family was present, the patient was terminally extubated. The patient, after having a taste of the red velvet cupcake, held the un-lit cigarette in her mouth and died happy within moments.

The patient's last request was met and the family was eternally grateful to Jenny for her hard work and for making the patient happy. Jenny always meets her patients' needs in any situation and does so in a safe manner.