Kristie Lang
May 2023
Kristie
Lang
,
BSN, RN
11 East Doan
The Ohio State Wexner Medical Center University Hospital
Columbus
,
OH
United States
Kristie knew that something in the patient’s condition had changed. These frequent requests were now different in nature, and Kristie consulted with me to see if her suspicions were correct.
Medical Surgical nursing (med surg) requires a special kind of heart. While many view med surg as a stepping stone for a nurse to complete and then move on, there is such under appreciated value in a seasoned med surg nurse. While it’s not as flashy as critical care nursing, not as well-known as OR nursing, and not as flexible as outpatient clinic nursing, it is an absolutely essential component of American healthcare. Kristie is a med surg who fully embodies the professional and personal character necessary for the role. Every day, Kristie goes above and beyond for her patients, their families, and her coworkers. I honestly take her skills and compassion for granted because every day, she gives 110%. However, recently, she went above and beyond her usual exceptionalism and I knew I had to take the time to nominate her for a DAISY Award.
Kristie frequently picks up extra shifts to help out the unit when we are short-staffed. On this particular day, she was the Charge Nurse, and it was day 6 out of 6 for her at OSU. It was the Saturday of Easter weekend. She had the next couple days off. It was the perfect storm for her to have “phoned it in” but that is not the kind of nurse she is. Kristie reported for duty that morning and hit the ground running. She was busy sending RAVE alerts and making a fair and balanced assignment as the hospital was short staffed due to the holiday weekend. Patients needed to switch rooms due to isolation protocols and Kristie was on the phone with bed placement to make it happen. We had several complex discharges, which is rare on a Saturday, and Kristie assumed the role of the Case Manager and Social Worker to ensure all of the patients discharged safely and the Skilled Nursing Facilities had all of the necessary paper work. When patients discharge, new patients were moved in as soon as the rooms were cleaned, and Kristie ensured all of the patients were appropriate for the floor. There were float nurses and travel nurses on the unit who weren’t as familiar with the standard of care provided on 11 East Doan, and Kristie supported them to ensure that all of their patients were properly attended to. Finally, as it was a holiday weekend, morale was low amongst the staff as most would have rather been home celebrating with their families, so Kristie did everything she could to keep our spirits high, including ordering take out for lunch and making sure everyone, including the three sitters we had on the unit, received a proper lunch break.
For those who know Kristie, this is just a normal shift for her. While these actions are impressive, it is what she did later in the shift that inspired me to write this nomination form. As stated earlier, med surg is difficult mainly because the level of acuity amongst the patients can vary widely. As a med surg nurse, you have to know what needs taken care of first, what can be delegated, and what can be addressed at a later time. When you have 4 patients, often the patient who presses the call light the most, isn’t the sickest. Med surg nurses have to set boundaries with patients, particularly patients with mental illnesses, or we wouldn’t get anything done. On Saturday, one patient was testing everyone’s patience as she was on the call light every 10 minutes. The entire floor took turns going into her room and addressing her requests, as she quickly overwhelmed her bedside nurse and PCA. The patient was so anxious and demanding, that she had even frustrated her family members, and they stated they needed to “run errands” so they stepped out for a few hours.
This is nothing new for nurses on 11 East Doan. It is why so many nurses leave med surg altogether. It would have been easy to check on the patient, cancel the call light, and move on with other required tasks. However, these patients deserve care just like everyone else, and sometimes, this anxiety is rooted in a more serious condition. Sometimes, patients don’t have the words to express that something is wrong, but a seasoned med surg nurse can differentiate between annoying anxiety and when its time to dig deeper. Kristie had been involved with the patient throughout the day and was assisting the bedside nurse, but in the late afternoon, Kristie knew that something in the patient’s condition had changed. These frequent requests were now different in nature, and Kristie consulted with me to see if her suspicions were correct. We decided to call an ERT on the patient because as we both know, when patients have an impending sense of doom, that isn’t something that can be ignored.
By the time I got off the phone from calling the ERT and calling the bedside nurse to inform her that I had called an ERT, Kristie had already placed a new 20 gauge IV in the patient and drawn a “rainbow of labs” in anticipation. By the time the STAT team got there, Kristie was ready with a full report on the patient, a summary of why the ERT was called, and what her recommendations were. Again, it was a Saturday on a holiday weekend, and I don’t mean to say that doctor and STAT team were lackadaisical when they arrived, but they certainly weren’t as sharp and focused as Kristie was. The patient was on isolation, so I stayed outside the room to serve as a runner for supplies, but it was the perfect spot to watch a professional in action. Kristie was calling the shots and everyone else stepped in line. I think the STAT team, and especially the doctor, were a little annoyed that an ERT was called; after all, if we called an ERT on every anxious patient, we would get nothing done. However, when the patient’s lactate came back at 4.8, a sharp rise from her previous baseline, everyone knew that Kristie’s nursing judgment had been correct. Other negative lab results shortly followed and the doctor began placing orders. All of 11 East Doan sprung into action and we drew more labs, hung fluids, hung antibiotics, got a urine sample, called X-ray, called report to PCU, updated family members, and had the patient transferred to PCU before shift change. The cherry on top? Kristie still managed to support the other nurses after the ERT, check in on the new patients who had transferred to the unit, and had a smooth transition to night shift.
It was impressive work and one of the most inspiring examples of nursing leadership I have seen in a long time. I don’t even what to imagine what would have happened to that patient had Kristie not been in charge that day. Kristie (Jankowski) Lang makes me want to be a better nurse, and she is beyond deserving of The DAISY Award.
Kristie frequently picks up extra shifts to help out the unit when we are short-staffed. On this particular day, she was the Charge Nurse, and it was day 6 out of 6 for her at OSU. It was the Saturday of Easter weekend. She had the next couple days off. It was the perfect storm for her to have “phoned it in” but that is not the kind of nurse she is. Kristie reported for duty that morning and hit the ground running. She was busy sending RAVE alerts and making a fair and balanced assignment as the hospital was short staffed due to the holiday weekend. Patients needed to switch rooms due to isolation protocols and Kristie was on the phone with bed placement to make it happen. We had several complex discharges, which is rare on a Saturday, and Kristie assumed the role of the Case Manager and Social Worker to ensure all of the patients discharged safely and the Skilled Nursing Facilities had all of the necessary paper work. When patients discharge, new patients were moved in as soon as the rooms were cleaned, and Kristie ensured all of the patients were appropriate for the floor. There were float nurses and travel nurses on the unit who weren’t as familiar with the standard of care provided on 11 East Doan, and Kristie supported them to ensure that all of their patients were properly attended to. Finally, as it was a holiday weekend, morale was low amongst the staff as most would have rather been home celebrating with their families, so Kristie did everything she could to keep our spirits high, including ordering take out for lunch and making sure everyone, including the three sitters we had on the unit, received a proper lunch break.
For those who know Kristie, this is just a normal shift for her. While these actions are impressive, it is what she did later in the shift that inspired me to write this nomination form. As stated earlier, med surg is difficult mainly because the level of acuity amongst the patients can vary widely. As a med surg nurse, you have to know what needs taken care of first, what can be delegated, and what can be addressed at a later time. When you have 4 patients, often the patient who presses the call light the most, isn’t the sickest. Med surg nurses have to set boundaries with patients, particularly patients with mental illnesses, or we wouldn’t get anything done. On Saturday, one patient was testing everyone’s patience as she was on the call light every 10 minutes. The entire floor took turns going into her room and addressing her requests, as she quickly overwhelmed her bedside nurse and PCA. The patient was so anxious and demanding, that she had even frustrated her family members, and they stated they needed to “run errands” so they stepped out for a few hours.
This is nothing new for nurses on 11 East Doan. It is why so many nurses leave med surg altogether. It would have been easy to check on the patient, cancel the call light, and move on with other required tasks. However, these patients deserve care just like everyone else, and sometimes, this anxiety is rooted in a more serious condition. Sometimes, patients don’t have the words to express that something is wrong, but a seasoned med surg nurse can differentiate between annoying anxiety and when its time to dig deeper. Kristie had been involved with the patient throughout the day and was assisting the bedside nurse, but in the late afternoon, Kristie knew that something in the patient’s condition had changed. These frequent requests were now different in nature, and Kristie consulted with me to see if her suspicions were correct. We decided to call an ERT on the patient because as we both know, when patients have an impending sense of doom, that isn’t something that can be ignored.
By the time I got off the phone from calling the ERT and calling the bedside nurse to inform her that I had called an ERT, Kristie had already placed a new 20 gauge IV in the patient and drawn a “rainbow of labs” in anticipation. By the time the STAT team got there, Kristie was ready with a full report on the patient, a summary of why the ERT was called, and what her recommendations were. Again, it was a Saturday on a holiday weekend, and I don’t mean to say that doctor and STAT team were lackadaisical when they arrived, but they certainly weren’t as sharp and focused as Kristie was. The patient was on isolation, so I stayed outside the room to serve as a runner for supplies, but it was the perfect spot to watch a professional in action. Kristie was calling the shots and everyone else stepped in line. I think the STAT team, and especially the doctor, were a little annoyed that an ERT was called; after all, if we called an ERT on every anxious patient, we would get nothing done. However, when the patient’s lactate came back at 4.8, a sharp rise from her previous baseline, everyone knew that Kristie’s nursing judgment had been correct. Other negative lab results shortly followed and the doctor began placing orders. All of 11 East Doan sprung into action and we drew more labs, hung fluids, hung antibiotics, got a urine sample, called X-ray, called report to PCU, updated family members, and had the patient transferred to PCU before shift change. The cherry on top? Kristie still managed to support the other nurses after the ERT, check in on the new patients who had transferred to the unit, and had a smooth transition to night shift.
It was impressive work and one of the most inspiring examples of nursing leadership I have seen in a long time. I don’t even what to imagine what would have happened to that patient had Kristie not been in charge that day. Kristie (Jankowski) Lang makes me want to be a better nurse, and she is beyond deserving of The DAISY Award.