I would like to recognize Katie Stefanowicz for the exceptional care I received during my recent Emergency Room visit, her sharing of information with the nurses that continued my care in the ICU, and her follow-up the next week confirming that I was on the road to recovery. Most people and their families have great anxiety as they go through the experience of trying to understand and resolve the problem that has caused their visit to the Emergency Room. The nurse's dedication, focus, and creativity as the patient goes through that experience can make all the difference.
When my condition/symptoms were communicated to the ER staff they quickly moved me from registration to a room. As I understand now, the first four hours after a stroke are critical and they were on top of it. The doctor, through some initial testing, thought there was a high probability of a stroke. He ordered a CT scan and I was quickly delivered to have the scan. When I returned the ER doctor confirmed his diagnosis and started into consultation with an expert to discuss options. This took him out of the room for a long time.
Katie regularly came in and performed tests. She assured me that the doctors were working on my options and would be on their way soon. What she did not know is that our room was close to the Nurse's Station and that I could hear her call the doctor to get status updates several times to confirm that I was not forgotten and sharing with them that the window of time for key treatment options was closing.
As she regularly performed the tests to confirm my cognitive abilities, she picked up that I had memorized the sheet of images. So, she became creative and had me name different items that were in the room. Not only did this help to identify my condition, it also allowed me to avoid the frustration of doing the same test time after time.
Finally, as the window of time had almost closed, the doctor arrived in my room and gave us the options. We decided to have the clot-busting therapy performed and almost immediately I was back to normal. Without Katie's persistence I am not sure my treatment would have been performed in time and my road to normalcy would have been much longer.
After receiving treatment, I was assigned to ICU. Katie wanted to make sure I continued to receive the best care, so she made sure the ICU nurses were well informed of both my condition and the memorization that I had demonstrated, allowing them to continue the different testing approach. At this point, I was thankful to everyone that had provided me care and felt Katie was a nurse that went well beyond the norm for care of her patients.
The following week Katie stopped by my room to check on me. She said that she had seen I was still in the hospital and wanted to see how I was doing. This quick visit to show her concern for a patient that had been in her care demonstrated Katie's commitment to both her job and her patients.
I am very impressed with all the nurses who provided care for me at WMC. Katie's extra efforts in so many areas are why she should receive this special recognition.