Caring for Caregivers

Hackensack Meridian Health finds new ways to elevate patient care by backing its team members.

- Hackensack Meridian

IN HIS ROLE AS A NURSING SUPERVISOR AT Hackensack Meridian Jersey Shore University Medical Center, Michael Cook learned that providing good care extends beyond the individual patient. It also includes supporting grieving families.

Cook witnessed firsthand the heartbreaking reality of people dying alone during the pandemic. To help families process their grief, he developed Heartbeat in a Bottle, a gift that includes a visual representation of a heart's electrical activity during a person's last moments, known as a heartbeat rhythm strip.