My patient has been on PCU for weeks, alternating between BIPAP and Heated High Flow. The patient was previously independent and on room air before being admitted. The patient has not made much progress since admission which is frustrating and discouraging for the patient. One of our last ideas was to try giving the patient Rituximab. This medication needs to be given by a chemo certified RN. The medication also has the potential to be given over several hours, too long for any chemo certified nurse to be off the floor with an assignment of their own.
On Friday, the infusion center said they would have trouble making the infusion over this weekend, suggesting Monday as an alternative. Delaying the infusion would have been extremely discouraging for the patient. Jessica came in on her day off to infuse the medication for the patient over several hours. The infusion requires 1-1 monitoring. I am extremely grateful for Jessica as this patient had been working hard to remain positive in an extremely distressing situation. I believe that without receiving his infusion right away, he may have felt hopeless.
Jessica also works on our family support team and she spent her time at the bedside with my patient hearing his concerns about the chemo and his diagnosis and supporting him. It was extremely generous of her to spend her day off helping my patient.
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This week I was downstairs giving chemo in ICU, during Jessica's shift. She came down every 15 minutes to titrate the chemo with me as a double sign off, but also to check in with the patient. She did an excellent job advocating for the patient and was consistently able to help multiple nurses at once. She does a wonderful job and is so resourceful and efficient. We are lucky to have her.