Kailan Chidester
August 2016
Kailan
Chidester
,
RN
Acuity Adaptable
Eskenazi Health
Indianapolis
,
IN
United States

 

 

 

I recently observed Kailan go above and beyond for a patient on the 8th floor. This patient spoke very little English, often did not have visitors, was visibly depressed and anxious, and had a tendency to act out because of a baseline psychiatric and cognitive impairment. Instead of keeping the patient confined to his room, leaving him to watch television that he would not have understood, keeping his door closed and isolating him, Kailan took it upon herself to get the patient up in a chair, take him for a walk around the entire floor, allow him to socialize and meet people, find out his hobbies and interests, contact pet therapy for a visit, and even play music and dance with him. More amazing is the fact that this was not even one of her assigned patients that day. She simply noticed the other nurses on the unit were busy and were not able to spend as much quality time with this patient. I saw firsthand how much her act of kindness meant to this patient. His demeanor changed, he was going around shaking the hand of strangers, he was less anxious, and most of all he was enjoying himself despite his unfortunate situation. This is proof that there is no medicine as powerful as giving your time and being compassionate.