Meet A Patient Who Spreads Joy One Red Nose at a Time
It’s not every day that a patient is discharged from the hospital wearing a clown costume and handing out red noses to the nursing team, but Tina Petty is not your average patient.
The 69-year-old Lincoln resident is all about leaving others in a better mood than you found them. The sillier, the better. She’s been known to go into the grocery store wearing a red clown nose just to make people smile.
Making the swing bed team at Lincoln Memorial Hospital happy was going to be a challenge, however, because they were already upbeat and positive all the time. She was going to have to ramp up her joy-spreading game when the time came.
“Everybody was so nice and friendly,” Tina said. “Like your best friend. Like you already knew them. It was just so easy to talk with them and laugh, and you knew you were being well taken care of.”
Tina was on the swing bed unit after knee replacement surgery. It didn’t matter who she interacted with – the rehabilitation therapists, nurses or the people cleaning her room and delivering her meals – everyone was friendly and encouraging. Even when she wasn’t feeling at her best.
“They always had a cheerful word or something positive to say,” Tina said. “If I was feeling down, they would say ‘look how far you’ve come already! You are halfway done!’ They really kept you going.”
When it came time for discharge, Tina knew she wanted to do something to express her appreciation to this team that had become like family during her time at the hospital. She asked her husband to bring in a clown costume, some red noses and several copies of “Patch Adams,” a 1998 movie about a real-life doctor played by Robin Williams who loved to make his patients laugh.
There were smiles all around when Tina prepared to leave in her costume, handing out red noses.
“It was such neat patient moment,” said nurse manager Lydia Allen, RN. “It was extremely thoughtful, and her gesture made the staff feel like they had really made a difference and had a positive impact on the patient’s stay.”
Tina remembers when the swing bed option was first brought up for her rehabilitation.
“I was thinking it was a bed that swung!” she said, laughing. “But it was truly a great experience.”
Additional Information
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