When emergency room nurse Brooke Johns has a day off, she still heads back to Las Vegas-based Southern Hill Hospital to visit with patients, talk and braid their hair, reports Good Morning America.
Ms. Johns said she was inspired to spend extra time with patients after visiting a friend who was hospitalized earlier this year. She spent an hour and a half brushing and braiding her friend's hair, which had become matted from spending so much time in a hospital bed.
"She was a different person when I left," Ms. Johns told Good Morning America. "The thought just popped into my head that if my friend benefited so much from this, I bet there's a hospital full of people that need some sort of human connection."
Ms. Johns said many patients are craving genuine human connection, especially since COVID-19 protocols often restrict family or friends from visiting.
Southern Hills Hospital CEO Alexis Mussi said Ms. Johns has inspired other nurses to give back in a similar manner.
"This past year our care team became the spouse, the family member, the friend, the everything for our patients," Ms. Mussi told the morning show. "When there isn't someone here holding that hand at the bedside, it really became our team doing that, so having people like Brooke really helped."