I want to take a moment to recognize Betty Stewart, our clinical lead, for her outstanding nurse leadership and patient care yesterday. She came in at 11am and immediately went to work decompressing an overwhelmed ED, checking in on each staff member before taking charge. The ED was holding 8 admits, received an influx of rescue patients, and was in the middle of coding a patient on/off for over an hour. Once she took charge, she managed patient flow, ensuring that all patients were getting the care they needed. She remained calm in her demeanor, which was evident in her respectful communication with other departments during a stressful time of coordinating care and disposition. The end result of her efforts was having only one patient, LWBS, from the department.

One moment this day I will never forget was witnessing Betty on top of a patient, performing high-quality CPR on a stretcher, being pushed down the hallway from a CT scan. She was laser-focused on giving this patient the best chance for survival while EMS and staff looked on in awe. Her eyes never looked up from the patient as all her concentration went into performing CPR on the move back to the room. This powerful image reflects the dedication, compassion, and resilience that it takes to be a nurse in an emergency department and will forever be etched into my mind and, I’m sure, the minds of other staff who witnessed it. She then continued on taking care of patients and staff. This department and hospital are truly fortunate to have Betty as the clinical lead.