Shaye Rice arrived at 7 AM to start her shift in the emergency room, only to find that one of her patients did not have a place to go when he was discharged. During the previous 24 hours, two of the patient’s nurses had made numerous calls to find a psychiatric facility that would take him. Very few of the facilities were willing to take the patient because he did not have insurance. Those who could potentially take him would not, because the patient did not have his oxygen and wheelchair with him, and the facilities were unable to provide those things for him.
Shaye immediately joined the other two nurses in the long journey of finding a psychiatric facility to take this patient so that he would be safe. Near the end of her 12-hour shift, a facility agreed to take the patient, but only if he brought his oxygen and wheelchair with him. The path forward was clear to Shaye.
When her shift ended, Shaye called the Jackson Police Department and asked that someone meet her at the halfway house where her patient had lived. With her patient’s permission, Shaye went to the man’s room, retrieved his oxygen and wheelchair, as well as clean clothes, and took them back to the hospital for the patient. She then stayed and advocated for the patient by finding transportation for him to be transferred to the psychiatric facility.
We asked Shaye what motivated her to spend several hours after work to help this patient. She told us, “It was worth the extra hours to know in my heart that this patient was going to a place where he would be safe and where he would receive the care he needed.”
Thank you, Shaye, for putting this patient’s needs ahead of your own and for giving up your evening to advocate for him when he was unable to do so for himself.
