While making her inpatient rounds on Christmas Eve, Heart Failure Navigator and Registered Nurse Emma Mentz came across a familiar face.
A patient with whom she had previously worked with at the Center for Heart Care had now been admitted to WellSpan Ephrata Community Hospital. It also happened to be this patient’s birthday.
“I know that for some Christmas is not a wonderful time of year,” Emma stated. “Walking in and seeing her by herself, sitting at the window on Christmas Eve and her birthday, really touched my heart.”
Emma stopped into the patient’s room and was going to begin to provide heart failure education, as she had done many times before, but the patient insisted that she only wanted to talk about things unrelated to illness.
After staying and talking with the patient for some time, Emma knew that she wanted to brighten the patient’s day. She went to the gift shop, but it was closed. So, she approached the front desk secretary, gave her money from her own wallet, and was able to purchase the patient a birthday balloon.
The difference in the patient’s attitude was instantaneous.
“You think you are doing something for somebody else, but
you really get so much back,” Emma said. “It made me even more grateful for the
Christmas Eve plans I had with my family.”