June 2026 Honoree
Alexandra Kenyon-Popejoy, RN
Alex Kenyon-Popejoy came to work and took over from me the previous shift for the night. She willingly took the initiative to cover an assignment that included multiple sick patients in the Emergency Department.
One of Alex’s patients was faced with critical care concerns that were being managed in the ED until an ICU bed became available. The patient presented with a variety of symptoms stemming from a combination of acute and chronic illness. She jumped in to make sure the patient’s care was the best it could be within our capacity as the emergency department, not shying away from asking how the patient’s care could be further improved before transferring. This patient required treatments we cannot provide within the emergency department, but Alex took every opportunity to stabilize them and prevent them from deteriorating to the best of her ability. She carefully considered the patient’s medical history and trends within their chart, notifying the care team of any changes as they were identified.
Alex leveraged the rest of the care team to ask for opinions, gathering solutions for this patient before the ICU had a bed available. Alex questioned care that was given prior to her arrival, advocating for appropriate patient care. She gathered advice and reasoning from her colleagues, contacted the intensivist providers to assess this patient despite being unable to transfer the patient just yet, and consulted with the emergency providers to get the full care team involved. Despite this level of care being questioned by some of the members of the care team, Alex refused to stop advocating for her patient.
So many times in the ED, we see care teams making sure people are simply stable, not implementing care that will help not only to stabilize but also support their recovery. While the ED is intended to stabilize and transfer, when things are settled, we are still responsible for patient care. I genuinely feel Alex had a more positive impact than she even realized on this patient’s health, allowing this patient to eventually transfer to the ICU and continue to heal. Had Alex maintained a more reserved mindset, simply maintaining the ‘stabilize’ status quo and failing to make critical decisions in care, this patient may have had a very different outcome.
Thank you, Alex, for being an example of the kind of care Emergency Services should be providing.
One of Alex’s patients was faced with critical care concerns that were being managed in the ED until an ICU bed became available. The patient presented with a variety of symptoms stemming from a combination of acute and chronic illness. She jumped in to make sure the patient’s care was the best it could be within our capacity as the emergency department, not shying away from asking how the patient’s care could be further improved before transferring. This patient required treatments we cannot provide within the emergency department, but Alex took every opportunity to stabilize them and prevent them from deteriorating to the best of her ability. She carefully considered the patient’s medical history and trends within their chart, notifying the care team of any changes as they were identified.
Alex leveraged the rest of the care team to ask for opinions, gathering solutions for this patient before the ICU had a bed available. Alex questioned care that was given prior to her arrival, advocating for appropriate patient care. She gathered advice and reasoning from her colleagues, contacted the intensivist providers to assess this patient despite being unable to transfer the patient just yet, and consulted with the emergency providers to get the full care team involved. Despite this level of care being questioned by some of the members of the care team, Alex refused to stop advocating for her patient.
So many times in the ED, we see care teams making sure people are simply stable, not implementing care that will help not only to stabilize but also support their recovery. While the ED is intended to stabilize and transfer, when things are settled, we are still responsible for patient care. I genuinely feel Alex had a more positive impact than she even realized on this patient’s health, allowing this patient to eventually transfer to the ICU and continue to heal. Had Alex maintained a more reserved mindset, simply maintaining the ‘stabilize’ status quo and failing to make critical decisions in care, this patient may have had a very different outcome.
Thank you, Alex, for being an example of the kind of care Emergency Services should be providing.
Thank you, Alexandra, for your exceptional compassion, advocacy, and dedication to your patients. You truly make a difference.
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