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

Nurses General Nursing

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In glancing through the "Hot" tab on the home page, I noticed that almost everything was a complaint (and thankfully we have a place to vent!). But it left me wondering:

What is the nicest thing a patient/family has done for you? :kiss Or, if you can't think of one, do you have a favorite patient story?

Sometimes it helps to be reminded why we got in this field in the first place

In one of my fourth year clinicals, there was a patient who woke up early every day to walk down to Tim Hortons (coffee and donut chain, for those of you who aren't Canadian, LOL) and buy enough coffee for all the nurses working that day. It was awesome.

On the floor I work on now, we have a patient who will often buy the nurses treats or even pizza from time to time. She's a very sweet and positive lady despite all the set-backs that have occurred in her treatment over the months she's been with us.

And any time a patient or family thanks me is one of the nicest parts of my job

Oh, my gosh. Tim Horton's raspberry scones were about one of my top five things I most loved the two years I worked in Canada!

Back in my first yr, first semester, we went to a long term care facility and my patient always wanted to give me candy or chocolate before I left. I also volunteered for a while for a nursing home one summer and went to the Hospital with the patient I was looking after. She had to do some tests, so I stayed with her till that afternoon. Before I left her she pulled out 2 bucks to give me. I didn't take it, of course, but I thought it was so sweet :). I never saw her after that day.

I want to thank everyone for posting such lovely stories! I hope many more are to come...

Thank you for sharing the personal side of your careers :anpom:

ive been working in LTC for about a month now and i was being trained on evening shift, which i find to be challenging and overwhelming do to the intense load or responsibility. i was feeling stressed and felt like i was being pulled in a million directions. i had one pt who needed her toes to be wrapped in cotton and taped together b/c her toenails had dug into her toes and it hurt. so im there in the pts room, wrapping her toes in cotton, thinking about the million other thigns i have to do as soon as im done and she says to me, "you do that very well." wow. it felt great to have a moment to sit down from my busy shift to just sit there and wrap cotton on someones toes and to be appreciated for such a simple task. i also think its funny when i work noc shift and im in there giving pts meds and i give the pills to them one by one and as they are swallowing they look at me and make comments like "gosh, you have the prettiest hair" or "you are so pretty" lol... i think it may be the narcotics talking.... but its great to have the time to sit there with them for three minutes giving them their scheduled meds and not have them be in pain or discomfort

Specializes in Management, Emergency, Psych, Med Surg.

This has happened so many time. So many wonderful patients and families relying on your expertise and compassion to help them. That in itself is a reward and honor. Flowers, small gifts, cards, candy... it is so wonderful when someone thinks of you. But I guess to me, the gesture that always sticks with me was Mrs. Greer. Trust me, she would never mind having me give her name, the wonderful woman that she was. I was working in the ER of a very busy county hospital in Houston. This was back in the 80's. Mrs. Greer was a lady who had severe CHF and a husband at home with renal failure. They were both pretty ill but managed to get to their clinic appointment and to work their way though the maze of county hospital red tape. They had no transportation so they had to take the bus everywhere. And if you know Houston, you know that the transit system leaves much to be desired.

Occasionally Mrs. Greer would have an exacerbation of her CHF and require a trip to the ED. Each time she came in, no matter how ill she was, she had a smile on her face. She never forgot any of our names and any time a staff member came in to see her, she would smile and greet them by name. Always thanking us for all our help. She had one vein in her right AC. And only myself and my friend Leslie could get an IV in her. She was always glad to see us.

One day I was at triage, it was Thanksgiving. All of a sudden Mrs. Greer shows up at my desk with two homemade sweet potato pies. She took three buses to get these pies to us on a holiday. Instead of being with her family during the holiday, the thought of us and bought Leslie and I those pies. I will never forget her or her smile and endless kindness.

Specializes in Oncology, ID, Hepatology, Occy Health.

As a student nurse on a medical ward, I came back from days off to find a patient I'd spent a lot of time with had been discharged and left me a rather nice bottle of wine.

Years later as a charge nurse, also on a medical ward, this experience repeated itself, only this time with a bottle of very good quality vodka.

The two greatest days of my career.

Specializes in Aged Care & Post Surgical Recovery.

Having a elderly resident write a poem just for me was definitely special!

Specializes in Geriatrics.

A while back when I was working as a CNA in an Alzheimer's unit I was caring for a 92 year old woman who had been in the facility for nearly ten years. She had gotten worse in the past few years, and had gotten to the point where she would never smile, and wouldn't utter a word. She had been mute for nearly two years.

I was fairly new to the facility, only having started there three months earlier. I was responsible for taking care of her that night and getting her ready for bed. As I was helping her get dressed and into bed, I turned on her music box and started singing to her. After the thing finally stopped playing, she turned to me, smiled, and said, "Thank you."

I don't think I've ever been effected more by a patient, and to this day I look back on that moment when I need encouragement. :redpinkhe

Specializes in LTC.

When I come back from being off for the weekend, It feels so good when my residents tell me how glad they are to see me and are glad I'm back. Family members will also comment on how glad they are that I'm back. It makes my job so much easier when I know I am appreciated by the people that matter most. The residents and the families. All the hugs I get from them and their faces light up when they see me. I know that I make a difference in their life. That is the nicest thing they could ever do for me, and It happens every day. I love my residents and knowing that they know I provide them with the best care I can, thats the best feeling.

Patients give me the best thing they possible could every day, their gratitude. It truly gives me happiness and it's the fuel that gets me through a 12 hour shift and then head home to hit the books!!

I love working with the elderly people which is why I chose LTC, just the people Ive met are exceptional, just to sit down and have conversations with them is truely amazing. They've lived 5 times as long as me, so they really do know a lot.

One 96 year old man I take care of is trying to constantly give me money, I always refuse it but he insists. Little does he know, I just take it and sneak it back into his room later. I think he has been giving me the same 20 for about 3 months now=)

i once handled a GBS patient in our unit. he had a trache and and so communicating with him posted a challenge. He also has limited control over his extremities because of his condition so sign language was hard just as hard for him. Every time he wanted to speak he can only do so by 'mouthing' the words. Oh gosh, my first encounter with him was very difficult as i would ask him to spell out some of the words he's saying/mouthing because it's really hard to understand. Most of the time after suctioning him and attending to his needs, he would thank me and even 'talk' to me about his life and family, etc. despite his condition. he said he was really grateful for having me as his nurse. So it was really hard for me to know that he had passed away recently. He was one of my favorite patients even though he could be stubborn and demanding at times. May God bless his soul. I know he's happy now :)

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