Haley is a new graduate nurse and newly off orientation on the day in which this story comes from. Let me explain and shared exactly how Haley is a DAISY Nurse. On this particular morning, right after receiving report, Haley entered a patient's room with the patient and spouse present, she noticed that the patient was behaving differently than the previous day which she had cared for this patient. She calmly informed the FMC resident on the unit. The resident entered the patient's room to assess the patient. As Haley was in the patient's room she noticed he was having "Stroke like" symptoms. As this patient had a history she asked to activate the "stroke" team. Haley remained calm and proceeded to obtain all the orders needed to provide excellent care.
While providing excellent care for the patient, she was also providing compassion and support to the patient's spouse. The patient was taken to CT as per the order set, which thankfully was negative for acute stroke, so the patient was returned to the room. During the stroke activation, she remained a valuable part of the care team and stayed with the patient doing exactly what was asked of her. This was only the beginning of her Saturday shift on the Family Medicine Unit.
The above patient required her to remain in his room at least 30 minutes out of every hour once returning from CT. This was either to provide compassionate support for the patient and spouse or to complete the newly ordered tasks for this patient. She did this while still providing excellent care for her other 4 patients. During this time one of her other patients sexually harassed her and she remained calm and followed the chain of command to ensure this would not happen again or to another staff member.
The patient who had stroke activation on earlier in the day continued to decline. Haley repeatedly questioned the medical team about dropping blood sugars, altered mental status among other things. The medical team was calling the MICU fellow for guidance, with these calls the patient was still not receiving the needed monitoring which Haley felt he needed. She called a rapid response while the attending resident was telling her it was not needed. Haley explained to the patient's spouse that this was to provide an extra set of eyes and hands to care for the patient. The patient was initially refused by the MICU fellow to which Haley went to the charge nurse to explain her concerns for her patient (using her critical thinking skills and passionately advocating for her patient). The charge nurse called the COA explaining the situation and relaying Haley's concerns for the patient. The patient was transferred to the MICU around 1650 on this day and coded the first time about 20 minutes later. Had Haley not continued to fight and advocate for this patient he would have coded on the unit while being declined admission to the MICU.
This young lady will be an exceptional nurse as she is one currently. I am a seasoned nurse and have witnessed experienced nurses be unable to handle situations such as this. Haley while concerned for her patient continued to reassure the spouse and provide her comfort while ensuring the patient received the care which he needed.