A routine Hospitality Pets training on a Friday afternoon turned into an eye- opener for me when one patient shared how she was touched by so many of WakeMed�s volunteers.
An Emergency Department employee came in on her day off with her gorgeous Golden Retriever. She is volunteering because she loves her patients�, she is a long term WakeMed employee and she is believes in our mission, vision and values. She is also experiencing a slight case of empty nest syndrome. As we walked through the halls on this first day of training, many employees, family members and doctors stopped us to rub their hands through the dog�s fur. Some folks just watched and took simple pleasure from seeing him in the hallway.
We were received with great enthusiasm on each floor that we visited. On the 5th floor, we asked if there were any patients that would like or need a visit or cheering up. We were asked to stop by and see one patient in particular who loves dogs. We knocked on the door and asked if we might visit. An elderly lady sitting up in bed greeted us. She smiled widely at the three of us and immediately invited us in. We explained that it was training day for our Hospitality Pets Team. She told us about the dogs she had as a child. While we visited, she let us know how we had brightened her afternoon. It warmed my heart to hear her talk and to see her rub our canine buddy.
I noticed that she had a huggable� on her table. It was one of the stuffed animals that our Abbotswood sewing group had made and is shaped like a dog. She says that she was visited by one of our Patient Services volunteers earlier that morning. When she described her interactions with him, I realized right away that it was John. John volunteers because he has so much faith and heart. She told us that when John walked into the room, he asked both her and her roommate what type of animals were their favorite. Her roommate replied a cat�, and she replied a dog�. Both were given a huggable� in their favorite animal shape. When John gave her the gift, he asked if she had been a patient before because he recognized her from a previous patient stay. She smiled a little mischievous smile at us and said that she wasn�t going to tell him, but she had recognized him from her previous visit also. I believe she was impressed that he actually remembered her, but she wasn�t going to tell him! She told how John had said that the huggable� fabric also matched her gown. It was almost an exact match! He also got extra points for being so observant.
We spoke about the volunteers who had hand sewn the huggables� just for her and other patients in the hospital. She looked at the stitching on the huggable� and commented on how she had known it was hand sewn and that it was so very special to her. She spoke about how her visit with John that morning brought back some wonderful memories she hadn�t thought about in a long time, and if she was going to be a patient, she preferred to be one at WakeMed. When it was time for us to leave, she said she was going home soon, but the volunteers had made her stay as pleasant as it could be.
As we walked out of the room, I thought about how many lives are impacted and connected through what each and every one of you contribute to our volunteer program every day. Volunteers make a profound difference to our patients� and to our staff as well. Thank you.
