My husband had a PFO closure in the cath lab with a planned overnight stay on 3 North. Thankfully he had a successful procedure. What was truly memorable was the care we received on 3 North by Karmin.
First of all, her technical expertise and experience were exceptional all the way. My husband had a lot of confusion from the sedation during the procedure. Karmin worked through his thrashing around and hallucinations. She sought out orders to help clear the sedation. She calmly stopped a groin bleed and made sure there were no complications. She caught a medication discrepancy on discharge and got the paperwork corrected.
Besides the technical expertise, we were truly impressed with Karmin's always attitude:
She always performed hand hygiene as she entered the room (even during the 15-minute checks).
She always asked if either of us needed something. My best recollection was when my husband's confusion had cleared, he answered, "I'd like to go for a walk in the hallway". I expected an excuse, or a delay, to plan this activity. Karmin's response was, "Why yes, let's go now." She always used a gait belt.
She always made sure the whole family was considered. I needed to leave to take care of our dog and wanted to coordinate the best time. Karmin's response was, "You pick the time. I will stay with your husband and work from the room to make sure he is safe". I left feeling very assured that all was going to be ok. She worked with us to match his home medication schedule with the one in the pharmacy system. She arranged a cot for me to stay the night. She always answered our questions or connected with the cardiology nurse practitioner to get answers.
The best yet is that we thought we would get a different nurse the next day. Karmin was our nurse, so the discharge process was so smooth due to the consistency in her knowledge from the day before.