Nurses Honour Patient’s Dying Wish For Baptism

Three Alabama nurses have gone far beyond the call of duty to make a patient’s dying wish come true.

Jeannie Guffey who was terminally ill with lung cancer wanted to be baptised before she passed.

But there was a major obstacle to overcome.

The 74-year-old couldn’t be moved from her fourth floor room in the Huntsville Hospital Intensive Care Unit.

No problem said nurses Erin Powers, Emily Owens and Kaitlin Swaim.

Nurses Show Creativity, Compassion, Kindness And Heart

They showed how anyone could make a difference with a little creativity and a lot of compassion, kindness and heart.

This trio certainly have heart.

That’s why they went into nursing.

They love to help people and encourage them.

They want their patients to know they are not alone.

So they came up with a plan for Jeannie who wanted to be totally submerged in her hospital room.

How Hospital Baptism Was Organised

With the approval of hospital managers, the nurses paid with their own money for a large inflatable children’s paddling pool.

They arranged to have it to be delivered to Jeannie’s room by Doordash.

The nurses organised an electric pump to blow it up and made a hose out of ventilator tubing with the right tap fittings, to fill it up with warm water.

They then used a ceiling lift to lower Jeannie into the pool to be baptised by her son Jody — with husband Ronnie and the rest of the family looking on.

There wasn’t a dry eye in the room.

“Those Nurses Will Be Special To Us Forever”

Shortly after, Jeannie was transferred to a hospice where she went to Heaven nine days after she was baptised.

Her family will never forget the passion of the three nurses from Huntsville Hospital.

“It was just a really sweet, emotional moment,” said Jeannie’s daughter-in-law Carol Guffey.

“Those nurses will be special to us forever.”

“It Was A Total God Thing”

“The nurses went above and beyond to make this happen at the 11th hour when we were running out of options,” rejoiced Carol Guffey.

“Seeing her baptised — it was like the weight of the world was lifted off our shoulders.”

“It was a total God thing.”

“It Was An Honour Giving Ms. Guffey Her Dying Wish”

Jeannie’s nurse-in-charge Erin Powers said: “It was just an honour being able to give Ms. Guffey the last thing she wanted before she went home.”

“The family was eternally grateful and very gracious that we were able to do this for them and for Ms. Guffey before she left.”

“We’re so glad Jeannie received her wish.”

“This was a last wish that was very important to the patient and her family, so we had to find a way,” said nurse Emily Owens.

“Sometimes, you’ve just got to get innovative.”

“Being A Nurse is So Much More”

“Being a nurse is so much more than just being a nurse,”said Erin.

“It’s more than managing symptoms, and it’s more than making people feel better.”

“It’s helping take care of not only their physical health, but their spiritual health, their mental health and their emotional health.”

“We’re here for all of it — not just to make sure that the infections and the wounds and all of that get better, but it’s so that you’re better overall.”

Erin Powers concluded “We’re glad our story is showing Jesus to everybody.”