Hannah Johnston
March 2026
Hannah
Johnston
,
RN
Emergency Department
UPMC Jameson
New Castle
,
PA
United States
There was a patient who came in for extreme, sudden back pain. Hannah used her best judgment and critical thinking skills to identify that something was seriously wrong with this patient. She took measures to immediately notify the provider after triage. She had a feeling this patient was having an aortic dissection and relayed these concerns to the physician.
Afterward, she called the CT tech to prioritize the patient's scan and get him back as soon as possible. After the images were uploaded, Hannah viewed the images herself and looked up pictures online to see if the patient actually had a dissection. She went up to the ED physician and also had him look at the images. Together, they were able to conclude that the patient did have an aortic dissection, which needed emergent surgery as soon as possible.
The doctor was able to begin making calls very quickly, even before the radiologist had the opportunity to officially read the scan. Unfortunately, this was during a bad winter storm outside, and STAT was not flying at the time. Hannah made a suggestion to have the patient transferred to St. Elizabeth's in Youngstown, as the transport times would be a lot quicker for the patient. The doctor ended up taking that suggestion, and the patient ended up getting to St. Elizabeth's for surgery.
Prior to transfer, Hannah took extraordinary measures to try to find contact information for this patient. Unfortunately, the patient had left his phone at work, and he did not know the numbers to call. Hannah ended up calling his place of work (with the patient's permission), where they were able to locate his cell phone and give Hannah several contacts. She wanted to make sure he could talk to his loved ones before he left, as this was a very serious medical condition.
The patient was able to contact several family members and his fiancée prior to leaving our facility. Ultimately, the patient ended up getting transferred to St. Elizabeth's Hospital in Youngstown and survived the procedure. I'm not sure if this would have had the same results had Hannah not advocated for the patient. Hannah took multiple steps that ended up saving a man's life.
Afterward, she called the CT tech to prioritize the patient's scan and get him back as soon as possible. After the images were uploaded, Hannah viewed the images herself and looked up pictures online to see if the patient actually had a dissection. She went up to the ED physician and also had him look at the images. Together, they were able to conclude that the patient did have an aortic dissection, which needed emergent surgery as soon as possible.
The doctor was able to begin making calls very quickly, even before the radiologist had the opportunity to officially read the scan. Unfortunately, this was during a bad winter storm outside, and STAT was not flying at the time. Hannah made a suggestion to have the patient transferred to St. Elizabeth's in Youngstown, as the transport times would be a lot quicker for the patient. The doctor ended up taking that suggestion, and the patient ended up getting to St. Elizabeth's for surgery.
Prior to transfer, Hannah took extraordinary measures to try to find contact information for this patient. Unfortunately, the patient had left his phone at work, and he did not know the numbers to call. Hannah ended up calling his place of work (with the patient's permission), where they were able to locate his cell phone and give Hannah several contacts. She wanted to make sure he could talk to his loved ones before he left, as this was a very serious medical condition.
The patient was able to contact several family members and his fiancée prior to leaving our facility. Ultimately, the patient ended up getting transferred to St. Elizabeth's Hospital in Youngstown and survived the procedure. I'm not sure if this would have had the same results had Hannah not advocated for the patient. Hannah took multiple steps that ended up saving a man's life.