What's the nicest thing a patient has done for you?

Nurses General Nursing

Published

Specializes in Med/Surg.

The other day a patient baked me a homemade berry pie and brought it up to the floor with a really nice note saying some of the sweetest things! It made me feel so special!

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when i did home health part-time, i had admired a rose bush one of my pts. dads was watering. the next time his son was hospitalized, the dad drags up to the floor this rose bush he had dug up! this was years ago, and yes, the rose bush is thriving.

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Specializes in Float Pool, ICU/CCU, Med/Surg, Onc, Tele.

Bring me homemade, fresh, hot tortillas. Mmmmmmmm!

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had a patient make handmade Christmas ornaments for everyone that took care of her, along with a cake and a very nice thank-you card.

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A patient gave me a lot of movie passes just for letting him sleep uninterrupted for a night. A patient that I helped code successfully gave me a card that said "Thanks for saving my life." Another successfully coded patient told everbody in the department store that we were in that I was the wonderful woman who saved his life. It's nice to know we're appreciated.

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Specializes in Float Pool, ICU/CCU, Med/Surg, Onc, Tele.

Actually, now that I think of it, the tortillas were wonderful, but the NICEST thing was after my favorite patient died.

He was very old and very sick, and I'd been in denial about his health because I wuvved him very much. Seriously, he was 94 and very frail. But every time he came in to the doc's office where I worked (which was a lot), I'd take a few minutes to just sit with him, hold his hand, and listen to his stories of how he used to work on the railroad. The man was born in 1899!!! How cool is that! I thought the world of him, and he knew it.

Anyway, he was the highlight of my life at the doctor's office, and after he died his wife came in and took my hand and sat me down and told me that I was *also* very special to him, and that our relationship had touched both their hearts, and that even though I already knew he'd passed away, she knew that he would have wanted her to come in and talk to me about it in person, and to let me know that he was at peace.

Brings tears to my eyes even now.

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Specializes in Med/Surg.

Guess you are right. It's not always about the gifts and cards. I also had a wife of a patient that died come and tell me that her husband told her that I made him feel special and that I was a good nurse! This was music to my ears considering I have only been a nurse for 7 months!

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I recieved a Santo of the virgin of Guadalupe given to me by a dear patient who had alzheimers. I took it with intentions of returning it later after she forgot she gave it to me. That night she died. I told the family about the Santo and they insisted I keep it. It is curently displayed in a place of honor in my house despite my lack of religious faith.

I loved her so much.

-Russell

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Specializes in LTC, ER, ICU,.

when a patient ask for you by name and greets you with a hug and a smile.

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HMmmm...in home care i have been sent on my way many times with fresh flowers...and cookies and candy with the words"you need something to munch on in the car while you do all that driving.." or something similar...(hey, if my azz gets much bigger, it won't fit in my car!)..i have had offers to "stop in anytime, esp if the weather is bad, we worry about you driving in the bad weather...we have an extra bedroom..." i have had patients want to marry me off with their sons/grandsons...sometimes sincerely, other times looking for a breadwinner for a lazy $hitsack...

the nicest most memorable...their was a lasy yrs ago when i worked in the hospital...was on a floor thatwas ortho and also med-surg-overflow...unfortunately, not the most acute-care-skilled nurses there...i was a float, assigned there one day....this lady started to present with gradual textbook AAA symptoms...i kept bYtching to the charge nurse, who luckily in this case, was aware she was out of her league, despite the fact she was well above me....this lady ended up with me as 1-on-1....down to scanner...got hypertensive in the scanner...i had to have ER deliver SL meds to me in the scanner, they were closer to me that the floor...sho nuff, AAA....ultimately transferred to a hospital with CV surgeons...disected on the table...survived...and came back to bring me and the charge nurse a beautiful handmade lace christmas ornament and the nicest card....

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I had a home care patient who was very special to me. After I had my youngest, she sent me a plastic cup and saucer. She said I was to find some time and put my feet up and have a cup of tea and a cookie! She didn't have much, so to me this was one of the most special gifts I have ever received! I still have the cup and saucer and think of her everytime I look in my cabinet!

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I think my favorite was when I was a nursing student doing my Peds rotation. I was taking care of an adorable towheaded 6-year old boy and a little curly-haired 2-yr-old moppet with a seizure disorder. I was with the 2 yr old when the liittle boy's mom came down the hall to find me after lunch and told me that when I had a chance, Brian wanted to see me.

It was a few days before Halloween, and someone had brought Brian a little sack of tangerines when they visited. When I went to see what he wanted, he shyly presented me with a tangerine he'd fashioned to look like a jack-o-lantern using black construction paper. SO adorable. I took it home and kept that thing until it completely dried up. :)

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