anthony smith, RN

Patients come to the hospital for various reasons. One is to ask for medical assistance with alcohol detoxing. This particular patient was admitted to the ICU at the end of January. Tony assessed the patient's needs and discussed the plan of care with the patient. The patient confided in the nurse the recent events that caused him to relapse along for his wish to return to the program that he had recently left. Tony listened, heard the patient's request, and advocated for the patient to be discharged to the treatment program. This was not an easy task. He made many phone calls to members of the multidisciplinary team to facilitate the discharge. Finally, after several hours and phone calls, the patient was discharged to continue his journey with recovery. Had Tony not advocated that diligently for this patient, the patient might have been "lost' in the system.