An ED Hoosier Nurse Story

Throughout the last year and a half, emergency departments throughout the state have had to change how we care for all patients. One of the patients that really sticks out to me was a middle-aged man that came into the hospital for severe shortness of breath. After multiple different attempts to bring the patient oxygen level up and decrease his work of breathing, it was finally decided to intubate the patient. While preparing everything for the intubation, we brought the patient wife to the bedside so they could have a few minutes together. During that time, you could see the fear in the patient eyes about having to be intubated. After all the supplies were gathered, the team went into the room for the intubation.

The patient wife and the patient stated to each other "I love you" both knowing it might be the last time they will be able to talk to each other. As we had the patient wife step outside of the room, she stated to the staff to take great care of her husband. After successful intubation, we brought the patient wife back to the room, where she never let go of his hand. When it was time to transport the patient to the critical care unit, the patient wife thanked all the staff for their hard work. It is moments like these that remind all nurses of the reason we got into the nursing field and especially Emergency Nursing.

- Hoosier Nurse