02/25/2024
Gamma Delta Chapter treasurer, Connor Bond, is the definition of caring for the "whole person".
Offering a ride to help out a family member, friend or even a neighbor is something most of us have done at one point in our lives. One of our ICU nurses took that an extraordinary step further by picking up a dying patient’s father to say goodbye.
Connor Bond, BSN, RN was working as a charge nurse when the patient arrived after going into cardiac arrest. Her mother was there, but according to Bond, her father had decided to stay home initially. As it became clear that her daughter would not survive, the mother told another nurse she wished her husband could be there to see her. But he is unable to drive.
So Bond found out where the parents live. Realizing their house was only about ten minutes away, he volunteered to pick up the father and bring him to the hospital.
“I didn’t want to make a big deal out of it, because to me it’s not really something heroic,” Bond explains. “I just thought it was something I could do for someone else. I thought, what if I was in a similar situation, what would I want done for me. This was just something I could do to help out.”
Because of Bond’s compassionate act, the father was able to see his daughter one last time and say goodbye. When the father was ready to leave, Bond was there to once again offer a ride. On the way home, he told Bond how appreciative he was, even as he struggled with what was happening to his daughter. Later, his wife also told Bond how appreciative she was of what he did, allowing her to focus on her daughter and stay by her side until she took her last breath.
“There’s so many difficult situations with patients and everything we’re dealing with right now. It’s a really challenging career,” Bond admits. “So when you can have these small moments and know that something that you’ve done can impact somebody so significantly, it is very meaningful. I think it’s really the biggest part of this job that keeps me going.”