ER Warm Fuzzies

Specialties Emergency

Published

So I'm just coming out of my lurking shell, sorry if there's been a similar thread. Just wanted to see if anyone had a really sweet ER story to share. When I say sweet, I mean did someone in the ER (patient, visitor, fellow nurse, physician, staff) do or say something perhaps small but very touching? I love the ER but it is often void of the warm fuzzies!

Anyways, a couple to share on my end...

The medics brought in an elderly lady on a recent Saturday s/p fall in a grocery store. A very young man (20s/30s) had been nearby shopping and immediately went to her side, called EMS. He offered to help the pt. get in touch family or friends to let them know she was going to the hospital, but the pt. replied she was no longer close to anyone in her life. After she arrived at our ED, I encountered the young man in the waiting room. He had driven to the hospital to come and stay with her in the room so she was not alone and scared. With pt.'s permission, he went back and sat with her for hours during the work-up. Total strangers, generations apart. No alterior motives, he just knew she was alone in this life and she truly needed a companion at that time. I'm sure he had other plans for that Saturday night too and but there he was at her side. Maybe it was something small, but it touched me....I see a lot of loneliness, entitlement, drama, tragedy etc....it's nice to encounter kindness.

I also had an elderly gentlmen arrive by medic after a fall. Pretty minor fall but many health issues, definitely needing a medical eval. His wife arrived maybe 30 minutes later. She was delayed because she quickly wanted to snip some fresh flowers from her garden to bring to his ER nurse (me.) They were beautiful and she was so proud of them. I transported them home in a urinal (all i had but it worked great!) and then put them in my favorite vase. They stayed fresh for almost a week, and I thought of that lovely pt. and his wife every time I looked at them. Very thoughtful....I'm sure she was very anxious about her husband, but she still took a couple minutes and gave me more comfort in a time she should receive it.

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Specializes in Emergency Medicine.

Well, There's no crying in Baseball...

There are NO warm fuzzies in the ER.

No time for them. Nature of the beast.

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Thats a really sweet story! Its good to see kindness now a days. Hopefully God will bless him for his actions.

Kindness;Pay it forward people!

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Well, There's no crying in Baseball...

There are NO warm fuzzies in the ER.

No time for them. Nature of the beast.

Well, I don't quite agree with that but if you feel that way it's your choice. I have enough time to once in a while notice and appreciate nice things even in such a high-stress, fast-paced environment. I've come way to close to burn out otherwise.

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Specializes in Med-Surg.

This is a great story... In such a hectic environment it is so nice to have these "warm fuzzy" feelings/stories sometimes and actually have the ability to stop and take it all in :)

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Specializes in CT ,ICU,CCU,Tele,ED,Hospice.

i recently had a sick icu pt in the er vented on pressures sedation etc.i had been warned by dayshift nurse that the wife was demanding and difficult.i picked up the pt right after he got intubated .i was very busy but i did my thing .when i was able i let wife and her daughter in .at first wife was very tense and understandably upset .but i answered every question gave detailed explanations had and got the dr in to speak with her .the wife and daughter decided to take a break and left .i had let them sit with the pt as much as they wanted.when they returned they brought me coffee and coffee and donuts for the staff .they said they appreciated all we had done .it was very appreciated by all. when i brought pt to icu she hugged me and thanked me .thats about as warm and fuzzy as i can think of at this moment.

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I heart warm fuzzies!!

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Specializes in Trauma, MICU.

Not an ER fuzzy, but from my trauma unit.

I was able to stay home the first 4 hours of my shift, so worked 11p-7a. Took over a team of another nurse. Had an elderly pt (later 70's) come from a med-surg floor who had prev surgery that day and was given WAY too much pain meds and pca. He had been narc'd 3x's! Wife and two daughters were in the room with him. When I took his 1st set of vitals his BP was low (85/45 ish). Call doc got bolus. Basically this went on all night, exhausting! I was in there probably a total of 5 of my 8 hr shift. Talked a lot with the family who stayed in there all night. Pt went on cardizem gtt by 6 am. Came in next night and pt had gone to icu during the day. Around 1am was able to go see how pt and family was doing. He was doing better. Got lots of hugs from family. Very sweet!

The next shift I came into work I was called into my mgrs office. The family had given me a box of chocolates and sweetest of all a card stating how appreciative they were of how I cared for their loved one. :redpinkhe Made me cry!!! A little bit of thanks for a mostly thankless job. :nurse:

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Specializes in ED.
Well, There's no crying in Baseball...

There are NO warm fuzzies in the ER.

No time for them. Nature of the beast.

BOOOOOOOOOOO

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Specializes in CVICU, ED.

One of the sweetest things I saw in the ED came from one of my nurse co-workers. He had a patient who was admitted to the hospital but had been waiting for a hospital room for a looong time. The patients wife had stayed with him the whole time. It happened to be New Years Eve. When it was about to turn to midnight, my co-worker poured three glasses of sparkling cider, one for the patient, the patients wife and one for himself. They then toasted to the New Year (and hopefully a better one).

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