Published on December 9, 2021
by Angie Rife, Nurse Practitioner
It all started with a goals of care conversation with a patient who was very ill with COVID. He told me he wanted to marry his girlfriend of 20 years, and I knew I had to make his wish come true as it might be his only chance.
Working with Cindy Mahan, the ICU case manager, we learned that there is a hospital in-patient protocol to get a marriage license from the County Clerk. We did the paperwork while the family found a pastor willing to perform the ceremony on a COVID patient in the ICU (via speakerphone outside the glass ICU door with the rest of us watching).
That night he required mechanical ventilation, so we truly did it just in time. They were incredibly grateful. He truly is one of the lucky ones. He was able to come off the ventilator. Today, he is still in the hospital requiring oxygen when he moves around, but he is slowly improving!
Read more patient stories at AliveHospice.org/News