Heather Roberts
November 2025
Heather
Roberts
,
RN
Emergency Department
Lakeland Regional Health
Lakeland
,
FL
United States
I watched Heather demonstrate compassion both for her team and for doing what was right by the patient.
The Pastoral Services department received a phone call from Heather at 6:46 am. Our department provides 24/7 services to LRH, and I was the off-hours, in-house Chaplain at the time of the call. That Monday morning, there was a 100-yr old patient who was deemed actively dying in the ED. Heather had reached out to Pastoral Services and Palliative Care to inquire about the resources we could provide. However, without two doctor sign-offs, CMO orders, etc., placing the patient in Palliative Care was not an accessible option.
The patient had no known family members to be with them in their final hours (the closest and only family member of record was a son in New Hampshire, who told one doctor that he would be "on his way". Representing Pastoral Services, I arrived at the patient's room at 7:41 am to find a very caring and dedicated group of nurses. It was Heather’s care for her nurses that was especially touching. One nurse in particular was determined not to let the patient die alone! I witnessed another nurse who had felt inspired and joined in the effort to support this nurse and the patient. A few other staff members helped them ensure this team would not experience compassion fatigue. These nurses had already put in their 12-hour shifts and were determined to continue to stay with the patient until the patient passed. I watched Heather demonstrate compassion both for her team and for doing what was right by the patient. I watched the team go above and beyond to try to get the required doctor signatures and Palliative Care placement for the patient and to help administer end of life medical services.
Heather continued to stay on as long as her nurses stayed on, to support them. All of whom stayed with me until 9:03 am during my visit with the patient, and after the next Chaplain came to relieve me from my weekend 24-hour rotation/on-call shift. As Chaplains, we have the privilege of working with the entire LRH patient population, along with all nurses, doctors, and other interdisciplinary staff. I can't say that I've ever seen a more compassionate crew work in such unison.
The patient had no known family members to be with them in their final hours (the closest and only family member of record was a son in New Hampshire, who told one doctor that he would be "on his way". Representing Pastoral Services, I arrived at the patient's room at 7:41 am to find a very caring and dedicated group of nurses. It was Heather’s care for her nurses that was especially touching. One nurse in particular was determined not to let the patient die alone! I witnessed another nurse who had felt inspired and joined in the effort to support this nurse and the patient. A few other staff members helped them ensure this team would not experience compassion fatigue. These nurses had already put in their 12-hour shifts and were determined to continue to stay with the patient until the patient passed. I watched Heather demonstrate compassion both for her team and for doing what was right by the patient. I watched the team go above and beyond to try to get the required doctor signatures and Palliative Care placement for the patient and to help administer end of life medical services.
Heather continued to stay on as long as her nurses stayed on, to support them. All of whom stayed with me until 9:03 am during my visit with the patient, and after the next Chaplain came to relieve me from my weekend 24-hour rotation/on-call shift. As Chaplains, we have the privilege of working with the entire LRH patient population, along with all nurses, doctors, and other interdisciplinary staff. I can't say that I've ever seen a more compassionate crew work in such unison.