Cindy displayed nursing care at its finest today. I wanted you to know how invaluable Cindy is.  I’m here at North today with survivor clinic, but Cindy came up to me around 9:30 this morning stating she was a bit concerned about an “off service” patient in the infusion center.  There is a neurology patient, who has type I diabetes as a comorbidity, who was here yesterday for Solumedrol and returning today for another dose of Solumedrol.  Instead of just giving the drug and sending them on their way, Cindy noted that she didn’t seem to be acting quite like herself (she had known them from a prior recent visit for IVIG) and inquired about how she was feeling.  Because of this, Cindy found out that her blood sugars were flagging as >500 on her pump this morning, and she was spilling ketones, and feeling more sleepy.  This of course led to my involvement, but thanks to Cindy, we were able to quickly get a POC glucose, get labs and an IV started, get a bolus going and bring her glucose down while we struggled to get the patient’s primary services of endocrine and neurology to respond to us rapidly.  

Ultimately, we were able to save the patient an ER visit and get the patient her drug and help the family coordinate a plan for home, but without such a dedicated and experienced nurse like Cindy, I do fear that this wouldn’t have necessarily been caught by everyone.

She is a joy to work with, and our patients (and I) are so lucky to have her!