Caitlin Fitzgerald
July 2023
Caitlin
Fitzgerald
,
RN
ICU
Trinity Health Muskegon
Muskegon
,
MI
United States

 

 

 

Caitlin was able to get in touch with this patient's mother from Mexico City, New Mexico, and notify her that her son was in the ICU.
Caitlin exhibited extraordinary, compassionate nursing care this past weekend. On Sunday, Caitlin started taking care of a "John Doe" patient from Electric Forest. The only information the ER received from Electric Forest was that the patient was from Canada. This patient had altered mental status due to his condition and was unable to tell staff his name or birthday. However, this nurse was determined to find his identity and notify the family that he was in ICU (with patient's consent, of course). Throughout the day the patient became more coherent and used the nurse's own social media account to find his account, so she could touch base with his family. Caitlin was able to get in touch with this patient's mother from Mexico City, New Mexico, and notify her that her son was in the ICU. The mother flew to Michigan to be with her son.

She went above and beyond the call of duty to help this young man. He was very ill and alone. Most nurses would have waited until the patient became more alert and oriented (if he ever did) before trying to get a name and birthday. I highly doubt they would have put as much work into finding a family for this poor man as Caitlin did.