Sejal Patel, RN, a critical care pediatric nurse at Children’s Memorial Hermann Hospital, received quite a surprise when she reported to work for her shift last Thursday. Matt Patrick, host of the “Matt Patrick Show” on NewsRadio 740 KTRH-AM, recognized her live on the air that morning and rewarded her with a $100 gift card to Urban Retreat Salon & Spa. Why did she win? It seems Patel’s “random acts of kindness” have finally come full circle.
According to Patel’s colleague Mary Marrs, RNII, BSN, who is also a critical care pediatric nurse at Children's Memorial Hermann Hospital and the one who nominated Patel for the recognition, Patel has been printing out blank calendars for her co-workers for the past several months and then filling in each day with a “random act of kindness,” thereby encouraging others to make someone else’s day a bit brighter. “Sejal has placed the calendars all over the units: at the workstations, in the bathrooms and in co-workers’ offices. These calendars have rippled into hundreds of random acts of kindness for her peers as well as our patients, patient families, visitors and even our family members when we bring this mentality home with us,” said Marrs.
Some of the suggested random acts featured on Patel’s November calendar included: cooking a delicious meal for a loved one, calling one’s best friend, giving 10 hugs in one day, baking a loaf of bread to share, forgiving someone, complaining less, and writing a poem for a podmate, just to name a few.
“Sejal, I hope you’re listening… I want to thank you for, first of all, doing what you’re doing for our kids… and all of the nurses and docs [sic] at Children’s Memorial Hermann Hospital for what you do,” said Patrick on his radio show on Thursday. “Actually making a calendar and encouraging other people to do random acts of kindness is just fantastic. You are exactly the type of person we want to honor, Sejal, and we do today.”