At the end of a busy day, Alex and the IR team got a call from the ICU about a critical patient that had suspected GI bleeding. They arranged for the patient to get a CT angiogram to determine if there was an active bleed but the study was not going to be performed until after the completion of the workday. Alex waited at the hospital and assisted with difficult IV access for the patient so that the study could be completed. The study was in fact positive for active GI bleeding and although there was no after-hours call at Methodist Hospital, Alex helped arrange for the case to proceed anyway. The bleed was found and fortunately stopped. I don't think this patient would have survived the night if Alex hadn't gone above and beyond the call of duty.

***

I am genuinely grateful for Alex as he always extends his helping heart to us here in the ICU when we need help with UTZ guided IV insertion. Professional and enthusiastic in his approach in his work. But what strikes the most [was his care] when a patient in ICU 118 had a hemorrhagic episode and became hemodynamically unstable around 1630. We took the patient to STAT CT to assess the source of the bleed. Before this happened there was a plan for an IR intervention if proven [positive for bleed]. Alex in his good heart offered to put himself on call for the night if there was a need. Sure enough, the patient required an emergent intervention to stop the bleed and it didn't require a lot of gathering of appropriate staff [since Alex was available] for the sake of the patient’s survival. The family is very grateful that we had quick intervention and staff was very supportive of the situation that would have ended in the wrong direction if we didn't have Alex to step forward. Even on his regular days, he would go around to check if we had a need for IV access. He truly is a good team player for the success of our patient’s needs. We are lucky and grateful for such a good nurse. Alex is an Extraordinary Nurse. Thank you so much from all of us here in the ICU.