Sometimes it’s the little things that can mean so much: a warm smile, taking a few extra seconds, holding a door. They may seem small, but they can make a difference.
Snow for One Pediatric Patient
For one nurse, going the extra mile meant venturing outside last year to get a bowl of snow for a pediatric cancer patient.
“It was just something that I did,” says Donna Conley, RN. “It was a cancer patient who had just had surgery and he couldn’t go outside. His mom said that he loves snow. It put a smile on his face. It was nice to be able to do that for him. He was two and he passed about a month later. I think sometimes nurses do way more than what people see. Sometimes it’s the little things that you do that make a difference.”
Comforting a Young Boy Through a Test
A few months ago, a team from interventional radiology, a procedure-based unit, was recognized for their efforts to comfort a patient during a diagnostic test for Cushing’s Disease.
The mother of the patient wrote this: “The care that James* received was extraordinary. Dr. [John] Angle was personable, confident and trustworthy. [The other team members] demonstrated that rare combination of stellar expertise, compassion and humor. I have never felt so comfortable entrusting my son to someone else’s care as I did that day. They were not only wonderfully attentive to him, but they also obviously had a terrific working relationship with each other, which created an atmosphere of warmth, calm and professionalism. The way that team members interact with each other has as much impact on the quality of patient care as the direct care of the patient.”
Staff members like these have been recognized for going the extra mile to make a visit to UVA a little more comfortable for our patients and their families.
*Name changed to protect patient confidentiality