Three Wishes Project at Baptist Health Floyd transforms the end of life experience

New Albany, IN (September 18, 2025) - Maybe it is something as simple as a song or getting that final visit with the family pet. Or it could be family members of a dying loved one just want to sit in the room and reminisce during the final hours or days.

The Three Wishes Project transforms the end-of-life experience by granting small, meaningful wishes to patients and their families. Baptist Health Floyd launched the program three months ago and has already experienced positive feedback from families and staff.

“It is a way to humanize the death and dying process in ICU (Intensive Care Unit). It can be a very cold setting to pass being hooked up to ventilators and machines,” Baptist Health Floyd ICU nurse Makenzie Stiffler, RN, who leads the program, said. “Those patients go through a lot when they are up there in a critically ill state. Every patient is different. Sometimes the process can start before they go to comfort care, and you are already having those conversations. It is a way to help families heal. Prior to this we did not have any standardized process. It is not only healing for the families, but also the nurses.”

Stiffler said Troy Rivera, MD, gave her information about the Three Wishes Project one day and she took it home and not only read it, but instantly fell in love with the idea. She credits Dr. Rivera and Phil Love, ICU nurse practitioner, for helping get the program off the ground.

Not only does the ICU staff try to grant a final wish if one is requested, but there is also a cart on the unit with refreshments parked outside the room of the patient who is going through the end-of-life process. There is also a blue butterfly placed outside the door notifying staff that the patient is in comfort care and the family may need more quiet time.

The staff will also decorate the room with family pictures and encourage prayers or special poems to be read … whatever is needed to help the family through the process.

A keepsake vial with the patient’s EKG and heart rhythm strip is also given to the family along with finger and handprints.

“This project focuses on how we can make this process better and how we can advocate for the patient,” Stiffler said. “A lot of times it is just getting to know the patient … asking the family what was the patient like before they were this sick, what was their biggest accomplishments in life, what did they like to do? It is like healing in a way.”

ICU nurses take care of one or two patients during their shift. Stiffler said they get “very close” to many of those patients and their families. She said the program helps prepare families for not only what their loved one is going through, but what lies ahead.

“A lot of times you really get to know the families. This project helps nurses … we may not have been able to save that patient, but we helped the family heal just a little. It has been very powerful. I have had nurses come up to me since we started this and say, ‘I was able to find my why again.’”

Mike Northcraft, BSN, MBA-HA, director of critical care at the hospital, said he was “elated” when staff came to him about starting the Three Wishes Project at Baptist Health Floyd.

“Intensive care can be a difficult practice environment because some critically ill patients do not survive,” he said. “The intensive-caring mindset, supporting families through an extraordinarily difficult time, helping them to begin processing the loss, and memorializing the person instead of just the patient all spoke to me, and to many of us. It is meaningful not just for our patients but also for our staff, helping them make a difference even when medical therapies and technologies no longer can.”

The nursing staff also send sympathy cards to family members following the death of a patient.

“It really becomes about us supporting the family,” Stiffler said. “We do that with this project. We have them fill out a form to help us learn more about the patient. We talk to them about the patient transitioning through the dying process and just answer any questions they may have.”

Melissa Timberlake, nurse coordinator for ICU, praised Stiffler and staff for putting in the time and effort to start up the program.

“The vision and passion for this project has allowed our nursing staff to be part of helping families and patients view the end-of-life process differently,” Timberlake said.  “The hope is for the patient and his or her family to be comfortable, heard, and honored in a unique way.  It's about memorializing and celebrating life and in turn, it allows the care team to form meaningful connections with patients and their families.”

Timberlake added that “the best medicine for healing is to have a servant heart.”

“I am excited to see this project grow,” she said. “It is generating a lot of discussion in other departments within the organization who want to launch their own unit specific three wishes program.  Personally, I feel this is inspirational to nurses, gives purpose to their ‘why’ story, and truly stands to be a positive impact to patient and family experiences throughout the organization if adopted in other departments.”

Stiffler has been an ICU nurse for almost her entire 11 years as a nurse. She said it can be very rewarding despite dealing with a lot of death.

“Being an ICU nurse is not for the faint of heart. You must find a way to connect and be present in more ways than providing basic care,” she said. 

She said family members seem “very grateful” with the extras the staff try to provide them with during a difficult time.

“You can see it on their faces. Just the look when we give them fingerprints and the vials with the EKG,” Stiffler said. “It does not take away the pain of the loss because it is always going to be there, but it kind of helps them when they are in the moment of spiraling to kind of ground themselves. It is a very emotional connection with families.”

Stiffler said she is “so thankful for the ICU staff” for embracing the program which she expects to continue to grow and evolve.

“It’s been a really healing process for all of us,” she said. “It’s very rewarding.”