Lippincott NursingCenter.com is partnering with Lippincott Solutions to bring you an inspired nurse’s story every month. These stories are filled with heroic tales created by nurses, for nurses, and were chosen from hundreds of submissions from nurses around the United States. These nurse storytellers are compassionate, informative, and inspiring – we hope you enjoy them!

To kick this off, we are beginning with May’s nurse story, “Through the Stomach to the Heart.” Read the full story below.

Through the Stomach to the Heart
Simone Cheong, Magnet Project Coordinator
West Kendall Baptist Hospital

In a previous role working on an inpatient medical-surgical unit, I had an extraordinary opportunity to make a difference in the life of one patient. We had been caring for a patient who had worked for a cruise line and had become very ill, requiring prolonged hospitalization and medical therapy before being released to return home. He was from India and had no family or friends.

The staff explained that the patient was not eating and was losing weight. His mood was also depressed. The physical ailment included wound healing, and with insufficient nutrients, the body is slowed in its healing process. Although the dieticians tried their best to make accommodations, he was still not eating well, so I took it upon myself to go to a local Indian grocery store and buy some Indian food items. With the physician's permission, I proceeded to cook and provide him with Indian meals and snacks. The patient was thankful and overwhelmed with emotion, and over the course of his hospitalization, he began eating better, improving his nutritional intake along with his mood as well. He was subsequently released after several weeks.