How frightening to be over a thousand miles from home, pulled over by the highway patrol, and unable to communicate with them. After running his license, the highway patrol officer discovered that the man was listed as a missing person from a western state. He was unable to answer any of the officer’s questions, so he was taken to Jackson-Madison County General
Hospital’s Emergency Room for an examination.
It didn’t take Nurse Practitioner Stephanie Young long to determine that her patient couldn’t verbally communicate because of impairments from an earlier stroke. He could understand everything that was said, but could only respond with one word, “Better.” When Stephanie explained the situation to the highway patrol officer, the relief on her patient’s face was evident. He immediately bonded with Stephanie – the one person he knew understood his condition.
It turned out that the patient had six adult children, all of whom were frantic to find their father. He had not driven in over three years, but had suddenly decided to go across the country to see relatives, hopped in his car, and was gone!
During the course of the next three days, Stephanie spoke to all six of the children, providing them with updates on their father. Several of the children headed to airports, coming to Tennessee to bring their dad home. As luck would have it, horrendous weather conditions delayed their flights for days. Their father, in the meantime, was kept in the ER until his children could arrive three days later. He was doted on and cared for by all the staff and physicians, but especially by Stephanie. Their initial bond only grew stronger with each passing day.
Whenever the patient heard Stephanie’s voice in the hall, he would call out, “Better, better, better, better,” to get her attention, and she always came into his room with a smile. Stephanie made sure he had something clean to wear and coordinated a trip upstairs so that he could have a shower. Each morning, she would bring him coffee and a banana for an early breakfast, and each evening she would tuck him into bed before he went to sleep. Stephanie was going off duty the day his children were finally arriving. Her patient was sleeping when she left. Not wanting to just disappear from his life, Stephanie left him a goodbye note, letting him know that she wouldn’t be seeing him again before his children arrived to take him home.
We are thankful, Stephanie, for the medical prowess that allowed you to determine almost immediately why this patient was unable to verbally communicate. We are just as thankful for your continuing kindness and your compassion toward this patient and his family members. There is no doubt you made all of their lives “better.”
