Damian Dickman
May 2015
Damien
Dickman
,
RN, BSN
Stoke ICU
University of Louisville Hospital
Louisville
,
KY
United States
When my husband M suffered a ruptured AVM the day after Christmas, he spent almost 2 weeks in the Stroke ICU at UofL hospital. We had hoped he was going to come off the ventilator soon after his angiogram a few days later but pneumonia set in and he had to be vented longer. We'd take 2 steps forward, one step back, sometimes 2 steps back. They tried weaning him off the Propofol a couple of times but he became too aggressive and had to abort the extubation. A couple of days later he was scheduled for a trach and his only hope of not having that done was if his lungs improved and he could come off the meds, stay calm enough and be lucid enough to be extubated properly.
One morning I came in to spend the day in the ICU room. Damian who is a nurse in the Stroke ICU was M's nurse that day and Damian knew what was at stake - get M in the condition he had to be in to avoid a trach. He slowly lowered the meds (listening to me to take it even slower than the last time). He knew the right amount of change and when - he even pushed me a little - he knew best. He encouraged me to keep playing the country music on low "it's a nice touch" he said, to help M feel comfortable as he woke up. He took so much great care of my husband and kept me going with good conversation, answers and a bit of humor.
Around 4pm M finally started waking up and Damian was at our side almost constantly. He tended to M's physical and emotional needs (and mine). He summoned the physicians and recommended that we try extubating, after a couple more hours M was extubated avoiding the tracheotomy. If it weren't for Damian's "goal" of getting M to the right state that night it wouldn't have happened and he would have had a slower recovery.
Then for the next couple of days later while he was still in the ICU Damian was right there, helping M use the bathroom, fixing his meds and being there for the whole family. He was even the first nurse that suggested that we set M up in a chair position to help him stay awake longer, clear up his lungs and put the game on TV so he'd feel more normal.
We recently visited Damian while in the area and they had a great reunion. Damian is very deserving of the DAISY Award.
One morning I came in to spend the day in the ICU room. Damian who is a nurse in the Stroke ICU was M's nurse that day and Damian knew what was at stake - get M in the condition he had to be in to avoid a trach. He slowly lowered the meds (listening to me to take it even slower than the last time). He knew the right amount of change and when - he even pushed me a little - he knew best. He encouraged me to keep playing the country music on low "it's a nice touch" he said, to help M feel comfortable as he woke up. He took so much great care of my husband and kept me going with good conversation, answers and a bit of humor.
Around 4pm M finally started waking up and Damian was at our side almost constantly. He tended to M's physical and emotional needs (and mine). He summoned the physicians and recommended that we try extubating, after a couple more hours M was extubated avoiding the tracheotomy. If it weren't for Damian's "goal" of getting M to the right state that night it wouldn't have happened and he would have had a slower recovery.
Then for the next couple of days later while he was still in the ICU Damian was right there, helping M use the bathroom, fixing his meds and being there for the whole family. He was even the first nurse that suggested that we set M up in a chair position to help him stay awake longer, clear up his lungs and put the game on TV so he'd feel more normal.
We recently visited Damian while in the area and they had a great reunion. Damian is very deserving of the DAISY Award.