Las Vegas Nurse Pampers Patients on Her Days Off
Brooke Johns is a Las Vegas-based ER nurse that goes above and beyond her call of duty. She has been in her profession for two and a half years at Southern Hills Hospital, where she sees people at their most vulnerable.
Johns began volunteering with patients after her friend was in the hospital battling an illness five months ago. “Her hair was very snarled, she was too weak to brush it out herself and it was something she was very worried about,” she told KNTV. “So, one of the times I was up there I was able to brush out her hair and braid it and just talk with her.”
Now, she brushes or braids the hair of any patient who would like the service. Johns hopes her act of kindness will help those needing human connection while hospitalized, especially at a time when many patients are not allowed to have visitors.
“There’s something therapeutic about the human touch, as well,” said Johns. “Human talking, human touching, it’s that connection that we’re all hard-wired for.”
“COVID is going around and there’s a lot of isolation,” said Sierra Stein, a former patient of Johns. “You can’t have visitors or someone to come in with you or hold your hand and to have someone just to be able to braid your hair makes you feel like you’re at home again.”
Other nurses at Southern Hills have followed Johns’ lead, joining in to braid patients’ hair and spend quality time with them. “Nurses, in general, get into this to help other people,” said Johns. She does not plan to stop there. Once visitation restrictions are lifted, she intends to dress up as Elsa from “Frozen” to visit patients at Sunrise Children’s Hospital.
Image source: KNTV
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