Lippincott NursingCenter.com is partnering with Lippincott Solutions to bring you an inspired nurse’s story every month. Here is the February 2018 inspired nurse story, Heart to Heart. 
 
Heart to Heart
Cameron Mitchum
Medical University of South Carolina ∙ Nursing Professional Development Specialist
 
Some years ago, I was working in the hospital's ICU float pool, caring for a young man with traumatic brain injury received from a fall. The physicians had declared him brain dead. He was only 16 years old. He had run away from home several years before, so after many hours, his mother was finally located, but unfortunately couldn’t make the journey across the country in order to say good-bye to her son, so asked if I would stay with him until he went into the operating room.

After my shift ended, I stayed with him as a visitor until he went into surgery. I stroked his hand, talked to him, and told him his mother loved him. Later I called his mother and told her about his last few hours. We cried together, and I gave her the number of our chaplain support services.  

Two nights later, I was asked to pick up a shift in the cardiovascular ICU.  When I walked into the room of a new patient, I asked him how he was doing. He had just been extubated, and he replied, "Let me tell you, I'm doing great!  I feel like a new man!”  This patient was a high school principal and had received a heart transplant two days prior.  I sat down, and we talked for a while, trying not cry.  While I never knew for sure, I suspected that this vibrant man had received that young 16-year old boy's heart. At a time in my life when I wondered if I should look at other career options, this experience moved me in ways I still can't fully comprehend.  The wonder of nursing care hit me full force that night, and my decision to stay in nursing was firm and never regretted.