November 2020
Debbie
Barrett
,
BSN, RN
Same Day Surgery
Northwestern Memorial Healthcare McHenry Hospital
Debbie and Geraldyn spent 30 minutes with the wife trying to strategically get the patient into the car.
This happened on a very busy Wednesday. Debbie Barrett and Geraldyn Carr happened to be the on-call RNs for PACU. This patient was going home after being in surgery for 7 hours and being at the hospital for almost 12 hours. He was given the option to stay overnight; however, he wanted to go home. This patient was 6'2", 370 lbs. The scheduled surgery was on his left foot, but he also had a below the knee amputation on the right side from a previous surgery. The doctor had ordered that the patient be non-weight bearing. When the wife pulled up the car for the patient to go home, they were met with the challenge of how to safely get this man into the car. Debbie and Geraldyn spent 30 minutes with the wife trying to strategically get the patient into the car. It was a very difficult task, as his arms were weak from a long surgery, and the left leg non-weight bearing. Security and a male ER tech were called on to help. Debbie and Geraldyn exchanged phone numbers with the wife, in case she needed help once they got home. Debbie and Geraldyn called the wife to make sure they arrived safely and offered to help at home if needed. The wife stated they arrived safely, that the patient crawled from the door to the couch. Both the patient and his wife are extremely appreciative and stated that they went above and beyond. A few days later when they went for the follow-up appointment, they relayed the whole story to the doctor. The doctor was so thankful to both these nurses that he called the hospital to personally say thank you.