Jordyn Smith, a 21 year-old student at West Virginia University, was admitted to the Emergency Room with a kidney infection. Alone, scared and crying, Jordyn found herself seeking comfort from her nurse. The next day a tweet describing her experience went viral across the world, with over 54,000 retweets, 430,000 likes and countless replies.
After being hospitalised ten times last year, Jordyn was accustomed to the problems that could arise because of her small veins. It was the middle of the night, her parents were away and her friends were uncontactable. With no one familiar there to comfort her, Jordyn said she was unable to control her crushing anxieties towards certain tests and procedures:
‘Being in the hospital in general is nerve-racking, and being there in the middle of the night all by yourself when you have a little bit of PTSD from previous health issues is definitely nerve-racking for me…
'I was in a lot of pain and my blood pressure was high from that, so I started to get really nervous and sweaty and lightheaded.'
Jordyn’s nurse quickly sensing her distress, asked Jordyn if she had a problem with needles. Explaining what happened next, Jordyn said,
‘I told her not really but sometimes they make me a little anxious. As she was prepping me for the IV and blood work, she saw that I was getting really physically distressed so she stopped what she was doing and told me that it would be a really quick process and that she’s good at what she does and that I can trust her, and I said ‘thank you I just need to distract myself’.'
What the nurse did next was completely unexpected, definitively millennial, and incredibly kind.
Jordyn recounted that the nurse acted quickly, passing Jordyn her phone with instructions to go through her Tinder, ‘and weed [matches] out’; telling Jordyn, 'you’re a pretty girl I know you have some great taste in men, go through these fools and tell me which ones I should message back.'
Jordyn described her reaction, ‘I laughed and said sure. As she was doing the IV I was going through her tinder and would point out one said I thought were good looking or nice guys and we would laugh and talk about it, and the next thing you know she was done with the IV.’
lastnight I was alone in the ER & crying getting an IV put in (always a challenge for me bc of my veins) & my nurse gave me her phone & told me to go through her tinder matches and weed them out for her to distract me.. what did we do to deserve nurses like actually
Expressing her gratitude on twitter, Jordyn shared her experience,
‘Last night I was alone in the ER [and] crying getting an IV put in (always a challenge for me [because] of my veins) [and] my nurse gave me her phone [and] told me to go through her tinder matches and weed them out for her to distract me.. what did we do to deserve nurses like actually.’
For the rest of the night Jordyn said the nurse came in to see her and joked about their unique distraction method, knowing she was still alone and in need of a friendly face.
On Jordyn’s blog she candidly describes the struggles she has faced recently, in light of her medical conditions, ‘I lost my hair, parts of my education, my dignity, and had precious time stolen from under me without having any say in it.’
Therefore, it was not surprising that when asked how important the way she is treated in ERs is to her, Jordyn spoke of the experience like this, ‘From being in the hospital so much in my life, one thing that I’ve learned is that a nurses or doctors’ bedside manner can completely change your experience there whether you’re there for a serious procedure or a minor complication.’
‘This nurse went above and beyond to try and lighten up the mood and make my experience there as lighthearted and comfortable as possible.
‘I’ve had a few really amazing nurses in my life, and she definitely is up there with one of the top best nurses, and that’s almost completely because of her bedside manner, kindness and empathy for her patients
‘I feel lucky that I got her as a nurse that night.’
And it seems Jordyn is not alone. The thousands of replies echoed the sentiments of Jordyn’s original tweet, praising nurses, and the effects a human gesture and charming bedside manner can have on overall experiences of medical treatment.
Speaking on the international reaction, Jordyn shared her astonishment over how much it resonated with so many different people, ‘I honestly was really overwhelmed with the responses and the tweet going viral, but after hearing how many other people can relate and have had amazing nurse experience or aspire to be like the nurse that I have i’m glad that it did and could be relatable.’
Jordyn is training to be a child life specialist, and hopes to be working in hospitals making children’s experiences as comfortable as possible.
One reply to the tweet even shared optimism for the next big love story, so watch this space.
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