In the midst of these circumstances, my nursing peers had the occasion to demonstrate the kind of commitment and passion to provide an excellent example of the necessary vigilance to meet this type of challenge.

Our staff came to know Mr. And Mrs. L. during an extended hospital stay in which Mr. L. had an extensive surgery for esophogeal cancer and remained under our care for the subsequent recovery. Luck was not on Mr. L.’s side, and after being told his cancer surgery was a success, he developed a rare bleeding complication with little documentation of prior occurrence or effective treatment. For several weeks, Mr. And Mrs. L. rode a roller coaster of hopes and disappointments, and many times the staff and his physicians were along for the ride. After several plummets from what seemed like high climbs, all found themselves asking, "What awful thing can happen next?" With regular reassurances to Mr. and Mrs. L and ourselves, we worked hard to keep up Mr. L’s spirits up in an effort to provide some control in a situation where control seemed to be limited.

Several efforts by staff members provided usual and unusual activities to keep the patient and his wife in touch with the world outside the hospital. Mr. and Mrs. L. shared the holiday season with us and for the Christmas holiday we decorated his room in red and green and, while we couldn’t give him the first wish on his list, we did give him laughs. We presented him with unique gifts such as, a staff-autographed urinal and silly Christmas ornaments that were quite the subject of conversation for days. And while time was marked with what seemed like one setback after another, one staff member called in some favors and members of the university basketball team dropped by to visit Mr. L, one of their biggest fans. Mr. L. proudly displayed the pictures taken of their visit and quickly pointed out these souvenirs to everyone who entered his room.

This was not the end to the efforts of the staff, just when Mr. And Mrs. L were hearing things about his illness like "We are researching any further options", a visit was arranged by members of the pom squad. Mr. L. blushed and smiled at the mention of these charming young women.

As more days passed Mr. L. made mention of not being aware of what the winter was like this year because he was limited to being indoors constantly. Another creative staff member made Mr. L an authentic miniature snowman. Mr. L watched the mini-snow man melt slowly away much like Mother Nature was doing in the actual outdoors. In addition to the planned big events, there were also smaller interventions such as, providing shoulders to lean on and compiling information to keep Mr. and Mrs. L. educated in order to help them make some of the difficult decisions they found themselves faced with. Mr. and Mrs. L often said that the things we had done showed that there was no doubt we cared and demonstrated genuine concern. They said our "upbeat attitude was contagious".

To provide a happy ending to our story, Mr. And Mrs. L. were able to leave us on Valentine’s Day after a singing valentine complete with long-stemmed roses was arranged by yet another staff member. We reminded them once again how they had become permanent fixtures in our hearts.

Our staff would all agree that each of us gained so much from this experience. We were able to demonstrate that patients are not just lab values or problems to be solved. We plunged enthusiastically forward, continually inventing creative strategies, and demonstrating sincere empathy as we cared for him.

Allowing staff to use their talents or skills beyond their technical abilities made this experience meaningful and allowed us to feel we had made a contribution to patient care beyond meeting physical care needs. We were allowed to leave our work feeling personally fulfilled, ready, and willing to meet the care needs of the next patient, whatever those would have been.

Melissa Lehan Mackin RN, BSN, OCN