Angelina DeVita, BSN, RN

P went to the OR for a biopsy of a lesion in his neck. He returned to the PACU where Angie was his nurse. The doctor had told me that the “lesion” was an ulcer from the two previous courses of radiation for Nasopharyngeal Cancer. He also told me that the ulcers were near the carotid artery, and that we would have to keep an eye on it. He was satisfied that it probably wasn’t Cancer. P, his family, and friends were all elated that it probably wasn’t Cancer. After several hours in the PACU, it was time for us to leave and go home. Angie started to go over the discharge instructions, and she kept looking at the monitors. P’s oxygen level was fluctuating, and his vital signs concerned her (even though they were not that bad). Angie decided to put discharge on hold to monitor him for a little longer. She called the anesthesiologist and the Head and Neck team. You could tell something, “Just wasn’t right”. The doctors decide a chest X-ray and a nebulizer treatment were in order. When the nebulizer treatment was started, P began vomiting blood. His carotid artery had ruptured. Angie immediately got the response team involved and P received life-saving treatment. He still is receiving excellent care from the staff here at the Brigham, but without Angie and her ability to trust her gut, we would have been in the car or at home when the carotid artery ruptured, and P would not be here today.

Angie was kind and attentive while in the PACU, but I am nominating her because she trusted her gut, kept pushing the doctors, and P is alive because she did not send him home.

Angie will always have a special place in our hearts, she deserves this recognition!