There's nothing more special than knowing that you are truly cared for, and one team of nurses went above and beyond to prove that to their end-of-life patients. Natasha Steels-Webb, a critical outreach nurse practitioner at the North West Anglia NHS Foundation Trust in England, gathered her colleagues to assist her with an idea that she and another coworker came up with to fulfill the wishes of patients. The idea was to create wedding boxes, which gives patients an opportunity to tie the knot right there in the hospital.
"Myself and a colleague decided to create the wedding box after a patient we were caring for had become very unwell and it was clear she was not going to recover," the nurse said in a post on the hospital's website. "She had been with her current partner for many years, but they just hadn't got around to getting married — and this was something they both wanted."
The nurses were able to pull off marrying the couple, and from there they had a desire to make sure the wishes of other patients were also fulfilled. "We felt that we could do something to make future weddings even more special with decorative items, artificial flowers and balloons on standby for such an event," Natasha shared.
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From there, the staff asked for help from their community. They received a ton of donations in response to their request, and now have wedding boxes in multiple locations, such as Peterborough City Hospital and Hinchingbrooke Hospital in Huntingdon.
What started as one kind deed to help a patient has turned into a rolling stone. Natasha opened up about next steps for the wedding boxes.
The group is now working on building a directory of photographers, bakeries, and other wedding-related vendors that can be called in at short notice. This way, their patients get a well-rounded wedding ceremony experience.
They also continue to add to their wish list of items. They are asking for wedding dresses, chair covers, and decorations to be added to the wedding boxes.
“Although we were able to make this happen, with help from all the relevant teams, we felt that we could do something to make future weddings even more special with decorative items, artificial flowers and balloons on standby for such an event," Natasha said in the post.
“It is difficult to put into words what a difference these weddings make, but you can see the appreciation in the eyes of the patient and their loved ones that you have been able to make a difference — not purely because it is your job, but because you truly care."
