March 2018
Ian
Mccauley
,
BSN, RN
Emergency Department
Children's Hospital of Orange County
Orange
,
CA
United States
We came into the ER with my son who was having an asthma attack. Ian took my concerns to the doctor.
My son was still sating low but he looked better so the staff began to talk about how they treat the patient and not the monitors. I was still uncomfortable with the idea of taking him home and it was at this moment that Ian had the fantastic idea of trying something else. He went and got a portable pulse oximeter. His justification was that my son had been sating low for hours in a rested state, lying in bed and he wanted to see what a little activity would do for him diagnostically. Ian hooked up my son and walked him around the nurse's station a few times and his pulse ox immediately dropped into the 80's. This simple test made it clear that my son was far from being safe to return home and made the determination to admit him to the hospital a clear one.
I can't begin to tell you how thankful I am for Ian. Very shortly after responsibility for my son's care transferred from the ER to the floor, my son had a difficult time maintaining his pulse ox and it was determined that he required the aid of oxygen (something I did not have available to me at home) to get stable. Had we gone home, we would most certainly have had to return to the ER and had I missed warning signs, I hate to think what could have happened to my son. We stayed in the hospital for 2 days in which we received excellent care and I can't begin to express to you my gratitude for Ian's bravery and quick thinking that lead to making the suggestion for the "field test".
It was this simple suggestion that made all the difference in my son's care and it is what I attribute to his safe recovery.
I'm happy to report that my brave boy is on the mend and would greatly appreciate if Ian were to know just how blessed we were by his care and concern for my son and by extension, his careful listening and reassurance of me as his mom.
My son was still sating low but he looked better so the staff began to talk about how they treat the patient and not the monitors. I was still uncomfortable with the idea of taking him home and it was at this moment that Ian had the fantastic idea of trying something else. He went and got a portable pulse oximeter. His justification was that my son had been sating low for hours in a rested state, lying in bed and he wanted to see what a little activity would do for him diagnostically. Ian hooked up my son and walked him around the nurse's station a few times and his pulse ox immediately dropped into the 80's. This simple test made it clear that my son was far from being safe to return home and made the determination to admit him to the hospital a clear one.
I can't begin to tell you how thankful I am for Ian. Very shortly after responsibility for my son's care transferred from the ER to the floor, my son had a difficult time maintaining his pulse ox and it was determined that he required the aid of oxygen (something I did not have available to me at home) to get stable. Had we gone home, we would most certainly have had to return to the ER and had I missed warning signs, I hate to think what could have happened to my son. We stayed in the hospital for 2 days in which we received excellent care and I can't begin to express to you my gratitude for Ian's bravery and quick thinking that lead to making the suggestion for the "field test".
It was this simple suggestion that made all the difference in my son's care and it is what I attribute to his safe recovery.
I'm happy to report that my brave boy is on the mend and would greatly appreciate if Ian were to know just how blessed we were by his care and concern for my son and by extension, his careful listening and reassurance of me as his mom.