ICU Nurse Paul is 'one in a million'
The actions of a “one in a million” ICU nurse at Royal Derby Hospital have been praised by the grateful family of a patient who sadly passed away this summer.
Nurse Paul Gothard perfectly encapsulated the compassionate nature that we value here at UHDB through the way that he cared for and supported both a patient who was at end of life and his family.
From coming up with the idea to create a memory box of little keepsakes for the patient’s granddaughter, to sorting food and drinks for the family and staying late after his shift to make sure they were okay, Paul really went the extra mile.
In fact, the grateful family were so moved by the exceptional compassion shown by Paul that they appealed for him to win UHDB’s Patient Hero Award – sending in a beautiful nomination that described how he’d helped “during our hours of darkness”.
The nomination read: “Paul is a truly special man, and he is a credit to your hospital. As a family, we have all had our moments in hospital, but we have never experienced such first-class care and attention, as that which my father and our family received that weekend.
“Paul brought us comfort and solace, instead of us feeling totally lost, bereft and even angry that we had lost Dad. Paul made us feel very comfortable and peaceful during our hours of darkness. Paul couldn’t have done any more and we felt privileged to have had him by our sides at the worst time in our lives.
“We walked out of the hospital feeling that we had gained Dad in our souls, and not that we had just lost him. That is all thanks to Paul holding our hands, and we will be eternally grateful to him.”
As well as producing memory box for his loved ones that contained handprints and locks of the patient’s hair, Paul also organised multiple visits and calls so that family members could say their final goodbyes and just “treated Dad as a valued human being that still needed to remain dignified”.
After being presented with his Patient Hero Award, Paul said: “The important thing to me is the patient and the impact on the family. I felt like I was just doing what everyone else would do here on the unit, as a team. It is nice to be able to have that patient feedback though, so that you know that you are making a difference – even if it’s just the small things.”
Phil Bolton, Director of Nursing at UHDB, handed Paul his deserved Making a Difference Award, during a surprise presentation in front of his colleagues.
“You can see from the nomination, that you have really touched the family of this patient with your actions,” said Phil.
“This is really powerful, especially when you think that someone has taken the time to write such a long and powerful nomination at such a difficult time in their lives.
“I know that the ICU team have had a tough time throughout the pandemic, and I think that it’s little things like this that you have to hang on to and that really give you that focus in terms of the impact that you’re making. You should be really proud of yourself.”
Caroline Swan, ICU senior sister, added: “Paul is a really valued senior nurse on our ICU and he always goes above and beyond – not just for this patient, he does it all of the time. He’s one in a million and we’re really proud of him.”
Patients, families and hospital visitors can nominate a UHDB colleague for our Patient Hero award by sending in a nomination to uhdb.employeeawards@nhs.net.
