Nurses see a lot of pain, grieving and death in their careers. They couldn’t be faulted, then, for developing a “just get through it” mentality on tougher days. That’s why it’s so insanely awesome when they prove, time and time again, just how willing they are to go the extra mile for their patients.
KOAA.com recently reported a story on four nurses who did just that at the Bruce McCandless Veterans Home in Florence, Colorado. The story really touched us and we wanted to share it with all of you.
Madeline Minock had been visiting her 92-year-old father at the home every day. “I was here with him twice a day, everyday. If I didn’t work I was here,” Minock told the news site. But when her dad’s health started rapidly declining one night and the nurses knew Minock wouldn’t be back until the next day, they knew they had to do something.
“We noticed some signs that his time time be getting close, so we tried getting a hold of her. Called her multiple times on her cell phone, left her voice mails, couldn’t get a hold of her,” Katelyn Mazanet, one of the nurses, told KOAA.com. It turned out that Minock, who has bad cell reception at her house, never even got the calls. “We had to tell her, we had to find some way to tell her,” Mazanet said.
At the end of their shifts, the nurses decided to try and find Minock themselves. “We got lost a couple of times on the way, but we finally made it to her gate, and it was a locked community, which we didn’t know,” Mazanet said to the site. Luckily, they were able to find someone who knew Minock’s husband and got in touch with her.
“When the girls we’re out trying to find my home, I’m sure that that’s what was on their mind. They had to make sure that my dad and I were together,” Minock said.
And make it happen they did. Minock rushed to her dad’s side and told the site how happy she was to have been with him, something she wouldn’t have had without the help of those awesome nurses. “Everybody just needs to take care of everybody and help each other. Wouldn’t this be an awesome world if that’s what people did?” Minock said to KOAA.com.
After his passing, the Bruce McCandless Veterans Home has left Minock’s father’s room empty for a week out of respect.
“They truly care about the residents they take care of,” Minock said. “They went above and beyond.”
Nurses, can you think of a time when you or a fellow nurse went above and beyond for a patient? How did it make you feel and why do you think these acts are important? Fill us in the comments below!
Source: KOAA.com