I would like to recognize the ICU/CVICU team for their work during and after the COVID 19 surge. The ICU/CVICU team takes care of about 30 patients on both the ICU and CVICU units on a regular day. During the COVID 19 surge, we were averaging 45 patients on a daily basis from June to July. All ICU beds were occupied by COVID patients and there were ICU patients on the IMU floor and in the ED. The CVICU beds were occupied by CV and non-COVID patients. The acuity was very high and the staffing had not changed, leading to increasing the assignment load for the nurses in ICU. This meant that ICU nurses were taking care of 3 very critical patients who were declining fast due to complications of COVID.
In June 2020, the CV patients and non-COVID patients were moved to PACU. The CV nurses took care of those patients in PACU and worked with other ICU nurses to manage the patients in the new, unfamiliar location. This opened up the CV beds for the COVID patients who were holding in the ED. During this time, the COVID census continued to increase. There was an average of 15 COVID ICU level patients on 3A/IMU. ICU nurses were stretched thin covering the patients on 3A/IMU, ICU, CVICU, and PACU.
This was a team effort as the nurses managed the high acuity patients while dealing with the fear of getting exposed to the novel Coronavirus. The ICU/CVICU nurses showed courage when they took care of the COVID patients and took on more than they were used to during a time of fear and anxiety. They handled the stressful time very well, taking care of patients and each other.
There were numerous occasions where there were multiple code blues called overhead and the nurses made all attempts to resuscitate the patients and involve their family members on Zoom. The team adapted to this new way of communicating through Zoom and most times it was to include the families in the last moments as the patients were dying. The nurses showed compassion as they invited families to virtual visits when they could not be here in person. There were numerous times when the nurses stayed with the patients as they were dying and held their hands so they would not die alone. The ICU/CVICU team went through the COVID surge together and it would not have been possible without their teamwork and collaboration with the ED and 3A/IMU. The team was also recognized numerous times through the surge with food donations, as well as a monetary donation from a teenager who had written a new book. That money was used to buy the Nurses PPE bags.

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Team Members honored with this DAISY TEAM Award:

Ashly Anchondo, RN
Rachel Arceneaux, RN
Selma Atatural
Suzanne Baldwin, RN
Caroline Bell, RN
Lindsey Bernal, RN
Heather Beverly, RN
Katy Bishop, RN
Clark Bonvillain, RN
Meredith Brock, RN
Destinee Brown, RN
Elizabeth Carreon, PCT
Penny Chapman, RN
Donna Coleman, RN
Jameson Cumby, PCT
Laurence DelaRosa, RN
Desiree Depaolo-Merkle, RN
Amber Dollar, RN
Ariel Donato, RN
Michael Enriquez, RN
Myra Anne Espinueva, RN
Valerie Evans, RN
Rhonda Findle, RN
Tina Ford, RN
Kendall Fox, RN
Christi Gallier, RN
Blanca Garcia, RN
Santa Garcia, RN
Esequiel Garza, RN
Anaisa Gordillo
Ailia Gould, RN
Victoria Grace, RN
Mary Graves, PCT
Kimberly Grubbs, RN
Christal Guzman, RN
Brian Hafele, RN
Anna Hansen, RN
Vicki Harbeck, RN
Joyce Haritos, RN
Krysta Harper, RN
Natasha Harris, RN
Diana Hernandez, RN
Juan Hernandez, RN
Nicholas Hoffman, RN
Laura Holguin, RN
Latoya Hopes, RN
Maria Jacinto, RN
Austin Jadloski, RN
Jessica Jakes, RN
Angela Johnson, RN
Julie Joseph, RN
Angelica Krenek, RN
Audrey Lackey, RN
Imran Lakhani, RN
Brooke Land, RN
Jennifer Vaughan, PCT
Sheena Lemmons, RN
Kae Dian Long, RN
Elias Lopez, RN
Amy Macias, RN
Marilyn Mansel, RN
Ahmed Masood, RN
Manju Mathew, RN
Alexander Mccree, RN
Aubrey McGovern, RN
Dalia Mendiola, RN
Krystle Merkle, RN
Kristen Myrick, PCT
Vipin Narayanan Vijayan, RN
Hannah Ndirangu, RN
Lee Nguyen, RN
Denise Nyholt, RN
Jennifer Oliver, RN
Gloria Padilla, RN
Shawnna Pandolph, RN
Chandra Parra, RN
Anish Patel, RN
Irene Ponce, PCT
Heather Pond, RN
Alonzo Reeves, RN
Gracie Riehs, RN
Roberto Rivera, RN
Patience Robinson, RN
Janie Rodriguez, PCT
Adyam Sabatier, PCT
Connor Samaniego, PCT
Ricardo Samuels, RN
Shanee' Scribner, RN
Tu Sibert, RN
Angela Slaughter, RN
Courtney Steele, RN
Michelle Stellick, RN
Jamie Suarez, RN
Jordan Tanner, RN
Michael Tapia, RN
Bryan Turnquist, RN
Kristi Valdez, RN