Thank you's - memorable ones you've received?

swtgrl_bee · Aug 15, 2007

This happen when im still in college. im a student nurse that time, our duty was at a Leprosy Rehabilitation.

There this old woman whom I cared for, she is my patient that time. She's almost teary eyed when she thanked me for taking good care of her. She even called me "NURSE" that time. It felt so good. That day on I promise myself that I will be touching lives in the future.

TDub, MSN, EdD · Sep 15, 2007

Who could forget the bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Building on April 19th, 1995? Certainly not anyone who was living in Oklahoma City. I was a young college student at Oklahoma Christian at the time, majoring in Theater, and I FELT the blast that morning. It's an experience beyond description. Anyway, my "thank you" came about because of that horrific day.
I mentioned I was a theater major, well I was in a play called "Stepping Out" (a comedy about a group of misfits that are in a tap dance class together) and our opening night was supposed to have been April 19th. Due to the circumstances it got delayed and we weren't even sure if we would be allowed to open at all since the location where we were performing had been turned into the Family Notification Headquarters and one of the lead performers was a spokesperson for the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigations. But open we did, on April 24th, to a sold out but somewhat somber crowd. It was common after a performance for the cast to go out to the foyer to "meet and greet", which we did, and during this time was when I received one of the most treasured gifts of my life. An elderly gentleman who had a large gauze bandage on his forehead pulled away from his companion (I assumed his adult son) and came up to me. He grasped my hands in his and I noticed they were shaking. I though he might be confusing me for someone he knew, but then he softly said:
"I was in the Murrah building when that bomb went off and I walked away with only this (pointing to his bandage), but I never thought I'd laugh again. Thank you. Thank you for helping me laugh again."
It took my breath away. It still does.

Ok, THAT one made me finally break down.

rierie · Sep 16, 2007

I have been an LVN for 10+years now and although I can recall the many thank you's and gifts recieved there is one in particular that sticks with me constantly. It may be a lengthy story but well worth it.

I met Amy and Jason in November. Amy was sent to Inpatient-Rehab to get stronger after suffering a devastating stroke during her first trimester of pregnancy. Amy was in her early 30's and a special education teacher. This was their first pregnancy. Amy and Jason had only recently found out they were having twin boys. Before arriving on Rehab the nurses were given an at length report on her condition and we were scared out of our minds taking care of a pregnant woman! Once she arrived we learned that she was a very determined woman with a husband that was by her side every second. Jason would spend the night at the hospital, go to work and then return every evening to help Amy with her endless PT/OT. She changed so many diapers on those therapy baby dolls just using one hand. It was inspiring to watch the 2 of them together. Jason gave her a shower every morning and insisted on knowing every med that Amy was taking. He gave her lovenox injections BID being careful to rotate sites and leave little bruising. He was so involved it was almost OCD like but I enjoyed watching the way he cared for her. Amy and I became close quickly and we cared for her for 5 months. Amy went into labor when I was off. I reported to work on 3-11 shift after Amy had the boys by emergency C-section. Jason came back to the floor to give us a report and I was standing there when he walked down the hall. As soon as he was close to me he broke down. He was sobbing uncontrollably. Amy was very very sick and required many blood transfusions and was now on isolation because of the flu. I wasn't sure how to react to this huge guy hugging me and sobbing. He was still wearing the blue scrubs they give the dads in delivery. The twins foot prints were inked onto it. I was in slow motion. I just stood there and listened as best as I could. I didn't want to assure him because Amy was really bad off. After collecting himself he went back to his family to wait out the news for her recovery. I cried that night when I went home. I am not a religios person but that night I prayed and hoped for the best. The next night I broke up with my long time live-in boyfriend. He would never have been the man I needed. Amy and Jason made me understand what true love really was and from that point on I would never settle for less again. Amy eventually recovered and only has a few residual effects from that stroke. The twin boys are healthy and I get updates/pictures often for all their milestones and holiday's. I have pictures of me holding them when they were a few days old and then again at their one year birthday. Those pictures are priceless to me and keep me going while I am finishing my RN degree. They are one of the main reasons I have decided to return to school.

As an added bonus I have found my own true love. Bryson and I have gone out with Amy and Jason to dinner and visited them at home and although I don't live close to them I think of them often. Bryson and I have been together for 2 years now and if we were in the same situation he would go to the ends of the earth for me. Although I recieved gifts and many thank you's from them and their family members, knowing and witnessing that kind of love was my greatest gift ever recieved.

If you want to see a pic of them you can go to my myspace and look me up by my email [email protected]. I would love to have some allnurse buddies to message with! Thank you to everyone for the wonderful stories and I hope I added a tear to the pile!

Deseosa · Nov 25, 2007

As night shift nurses you are sometimes forgotten, but I had one patient who made me remember why I was in nursing.

I cared for a man in his late 60's with a Koch pouch that, over time, had gotten increasingly hard to cath. He was so sweet and patient with what had become a very painful procedure. So much so, the urologist ordered an indwelling foley to be placed through the stoma for straight drain.

The first night I had him, I got report from a nurse who "hadn't gotten around to" irrigating his indwelling cathetor all day. This had to be done, or it would occlude with intestinal mucous. I check his I & O's. He was given 60 of lasix at 2100. It's now almost 12 MN, and he has had 240ml out since 3pm! The first thing I do is go in to check the cath, and, of course, it was occluded. Not just occluded, but pushed completely out from the pressure. His abdomen is so distended, he looks like he's 6 months pregnant.

I used a bladder scanner over his Koch pouch just to see if it would pick up, hey, it's kind-of a bladder right? Well, it reads >999ml which is as high as it will go.

I try for 15-20 minutes with four different types of caths to cath him. I even call his wife (who caths him at home) for some possible tips. 15 more minutes, I call back and she agrees to come in with their special caths and try. She tries for 15 minutes before I say to H*** with it, I'm calling the urologist. By the time he comes in from home, we've been trying to cath this man for about an hour and a half.

Of course, the doctor has much more freedom as to how hard to push and what he can do, cause if something perf's, it's on him not the nurse. Well, he tries for 15 minutes until he finally ends up sticking his whole fist down this man's stoma before he can get him cath'd. We empty 2.5 liters of urine. The urologist hands it over to me and says: "find a way to secure it, 'cuz I ain't coming back," and leaves. After some thought, I use suture and an ECG lead to rig this thing from backing out. We have to completely bath and change linens because urine is everywhere. Not until 3am did his lights go out for sleep.

I didn't get him again before he discharged home.

Weeks go by, and one night I get a call from another floor. I happened to be charge. It's the charge nurse from the floor to which this patient was re-admitted. It's the same patient, and they can't get him cath'd. How did they know to call me? The patient told them my name, what floor I worked on, the shift I worked, and to please call and see if I was working.

When I get to his room, he's got tears in his eyes; it has obviously been very painful enduring multiple cath attempts. He grabs my hand in both his big beefy hands and kisses it. He says: "I can't tell you how glad I am to see you. You are my Angel." Using the same technique the doctor showed me, I cath'd him on my first try. He thanked me profusely and repeatedly and talked about how the doctor had been impressed with how I had secured his cath that first night. He talked to me with pride- like I was his daughter.

I never saw him again, but weeks later, I received a full two page letter from my manager. It was from him, thanking me for being his "Guardian Angel."

Are you kidding? I cried like a baby, and I don't cry. lol

Nicky30, BSN, RN · Nov 25, 2007

I have a couple....

The first I was working as a carer and studying for my RN, and I was looking after one of my neighbours who had advanced PD. I had always been particularly patient with this lady who had urinary problems as well. She was just a lovely lady with a beautiful soul. On one particular day her hubby had given her a piece of orange and well she ended up choking and passing away before our eyes. While all of the other staff were working on her I just held him in his horror. I asked if he wanted to go and he said "No, ........ wouldn't want me to cop out at this point". So we watched and I held his hand so very tightly.

A couple of months after this I met him down the street and he thanked me for staying with him and then said that his wife had called me her "personal angel" and was so grateful for the care and time I gave her.

He has passed away now too, but I still get a lump in my throat thinking of them.

The second was shortly after I became an RN and I was caring for an ederly man that was quite difficult to care for (often hitting staff due to his confusion). The family was even more difficult to manage. The patient was near the end and I worried about pain and asked for the doc to implement a graseby. It was discussed with the family and I put it in place. About 2 hours after that I could tell it wouldn't be long, I began frantically ringing for his daughter and couldn't get hold of her. Magically she walked through the door in the nick of time. I stayed with her through the next 10-15min (the most difficult of my career so far). When I confirmed that he had gone we both cried (I had known them 3 years). The doctor came later to pronounce and she personally thanked me for the care I had given the patient. The daughter and husband hugged me and said the same. I felt then that I had chosen the right job, I had finally found my niche!

About two days later the obituary notice appeared in the paper with a personal thankyou to me. Well I was stunned, that just doesn't usually happen to individuals. About two weeks after that I recieved a thankyou letter from the DON commending me on the care I gave this patient and their family.

I put that letter in my CV, but it was really the family that touched my heart with their kindness.

Nicky.

RN4Nascar · Nov 25, 2007

I had a pt give me a basket of flowers. It was very sweet and kind. The best thanks I have recieved were the warm thank yous pts say when they are discharged.

chocokitten · Nov 25, 2007

at our facility we have "an honorable mention" box where our vets can put in comments. I got one where my patient said "Melissa really took the time to teach me about syncope. Plus she is very gentle with a needle, I'd let her poke me anytime!"

I could almost see the wink and nudge at the end :chuckle pervs... >_> but yeah, lol, I got this withing my first 2 months of working here and my manager posted it on the bulletin board and I got tons of "congrats!" from my co-workers. This also came while I was studying for my NLCEX and stressing out bad, thinking I'm a bad nurse for not knowing all the things I need to know and feeling insecure so it was a real blessing to get this vote of confidence :)

Sabby_NC · Nov 25, 2007

What wonderful posts. I am sitting here with goosebumps.

I had one patient with brain mets give me a porcelain doll ( had it cleared by management ) at first I refused and said I could not possibly take it but her and hubby both said it would go in the garbage bin if I didn't. Soooooooo here at home sits a beautiful doll and I think of *Betty* each time I look at it.

She was a rough diamond but we loved each other.

I looked after a lady in hospital years ago who had a total Gastrectomy. Her daughter, an artist, did a pencil drawing of one of our famous churches in Richmond, Tasmania for me. She had it framed and I still have that one. I still remember the patient's name and that was way back in the early 80's.

I received a beautiful watch, again cleared by management. I wear that each day knowing I had touched some one in my daily work.

I have many cards and notes that I cherish and keep. I have a special folder at work for my Thank you's.

It is a blessing to know we have touch peoples lives and hearts. Warms me to my very soul. :)

JaredCNA, CNA · Dec 17, 2007

It's really these small things that are memorable.

When I first began working the med/surg floor as a CNA I was assigned to a pt who had a massive stroke. The family was just mortified...they told me all about how he was a military man, was awarded the Purple Heart, etc. etc. The vibe from that room was just...morbid. It was like the guy was already dead and they were sitting at the memorial service.

We'll call the patient Jim. I say, "Now Jim, I'm going to be helping the nurse take care of you tonight. There are gonna be three rules in here: no smoking, no drinking, and no checking out these young women that come in your room." He cracked the biggest smile and managed a small chuckle.

The family finds me later in the hall tonight and I'm told that Jim hadn't moved and was non-responsive since his stroke. They told me "Thank you so much for making him laugh. That really just gave us all a bit of inner peace to see a bit of him how he used to be. We'd be just fine if he passed soon because we got to see him smile." This just hit me VERY HARD and is something I will always remember. The nurse told me she's had "Jim" for the past three nights and that the family said they just didn't want to let go and weren't ready for him to die.

Jim passed later in the shift. I cried. Now, who has a problem with men crying? lol

sleepyndopey · Dec 17, 2007

My husband receives a Christmas card every year from the wife of a patient he took care of 15 years ago. She always writes the same thing: "I will never forget your kindness and the care you gave my husband during that difficult time. God Bless you and your family".

Here's the kicker-my husband does not remember the patient:uhoh3: but he always feels good when he gets the card. We often wonder how she got our address. weird.

JaredCNA, CNA · Dec 17, 2007

Isn't that the worst?

I'll get pt compliment forms all the time and I don't always remember the patient.

psalm, RN · Dec 18, 2007

Working as an aide on an OB floor, I came to work one evening and faced some stony nurses. A patient's husband had sent a single rose to me and to another aide. The nurses were saying how inappropriate it was and we couldn't accept our roses. Susie and I both went to the patient's postpartum room (this was in the 70s) and husband and wife were there admiring their baby girl. We thanked them for the roses. The husband reached for his wife's hand and told us that of all the staff, Susie and I were the only ones who made his wife feel okay about being afraid; we were the only ones who rubbed her back and encouraged her; and told her she could do it; we were the ones who helped her breastfeed.

It was special to be "rewarded" for doing our jobs. That day I felt like my job really counted.