I would like to Recognize Erin Dame-Lewis for her extraordinary nursing skils. Erin is a nurse in the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit and a clinical expert and leader in every sense of the word. She is a mentor, leader, preceptor and an overall example of what it truly means to be an exemplary nurse. Day in and day out in the PICU, Erin exemplifies nursing at its best. On a night in August Erin’s skillset and excellence was demonstrated and seen by our peers and patients beyond the PICU.

In August, Erin traveled with her PICU patient to the pavilion MRI. While in MRI with her pediatric patient, an adult emergency room patient was also brought in for an MRI in the other available scanner. Towards the end of the scan for the adult patient, this patient became less responsive and was wheeled out of the MRI scanner. Erin sensed the distress of the technicians and jumped into action as there were no other nurses present. Erin quickly recognized that this adult patient had become completely unresponsive; Erin assessed for a pulse, recognized that there was not one, and immediately began compressions. The “stable” patient had decompensated to an arrest. Given the isolated location of this scenario, Erin utilized her critical experience background and took charge of the situation, ultimately becoming the code leader. She immediately began directing all of the team members to support this patient through a code. She delegated efficiently to ensure that a code blue was called to MRI, that the emergency room was notified that their patient was in cardiac arrest, she coordinated additional staff from IR and other nearby locations to assist and ventilate the patient, provide medications, switch out compressors, all the while also ensuring another nurse from the PICU came down to help support her pediatric patient in the other MRI scanner. The team quickly obtained a return of spontaneous circulation and the adult patient recovered without any deficits.

Were it not for the quick action, clear thinking, exemplary leadership, and nursing excellence exhibited by Erin, this patient may have had a very different outcome. She went above and beyond to rescue a patient that was not hers, from a dangerous situation. Erin exemplifies what it means to be a role model in nursing and as a UC Davis Employee. She puts each patient's needs at the forefront of her nursing practice and she ensures that every patient that comes through our doors gets the high-quality care they deserve.