Nurse’s mini-luau eases patient’s bitter taste

Patients experience an unpleasant, salty taste when Destiny Walters flushes the central lines used for chemotherapy and pain medicines. It’s a complaint she’s heard many times.

But this summer, when a patient with end-stage cancer shared the bitter taste she was experiencing, Walters, a PRN oncology nurse at UCHealth Memorial Central Hospital, decided to do something about it.

The following day, on her way to work a night shift, Walters stopped at a discount store to pick up some pineapple juice, a fancy plastic cup and some plastic leis. That evening, her patient got the full treatment. Walters held a luau in the patient’s room. She played Rupert Holm’s classic tune “Escape” (better known as The Piña Colada song) and in her hand was a mocktail in a plastic coconut-shaped tumbler with a straw.

Soon, the bitter taste of saline was replaced by the sweetness of pineapple juice with a dash of coconut.

“I’d been told she’d had a rough day,” Waters said of her patient. “That’s when I decided there was going to be a party when I got there. Nothing too crazy but I thought she might need a pick-me-up.”

The patient’s disease and COVID-19 put many plans on hold, including a just-the-girls trip. While Walters couldn’t change those facts, she decided to make a difference, investing less than $10 in the tumbler, plastic wine glasses with tiny umbrellas and a goody bag of lotions. She went further, dipping into her personal stash of supplies and giving her patient both a manicure and pedicure, complete with flower-adorned nail wraps.

“We were crying and laughing at the same time,” Walters recounted. “She’d never had a manicure before – I thought it was time to change that.”

For the eight-year registered nurse – three at UCHealth — who previously worked as an LPN, the opportunity to connect with patients is one of the highlights of her job.

“They often have amazing stories,” Walters said. “It takes just a few minutes to get to know them.”