May 2020
Lisa
Huang
,
RN
Oncology
Torrance Memorial Medical Center
Lisa considered after critically thinking there may be more DVTs in the other unchecked extremities.
During day shift the patient complained of Right upper arm pain and Lisa assessed that the extremity was swollen. She got an order for Right Upper Extremity Ultrasound (US) to rule out possible Deep Vein Thrombosis (DVT). The result came back POSITIVE for occlusive DVT. Lisa considered after critically thinking there may be more DVTs in the other unchecked extremities. Lisa requested orders from the MD for US of the Left UE and Bilateral LE around 1700. She gave report at 1900 and was adamant the next RN follow up on the results. She explained that she was concerned the patient might experience a Pulmonary Embolism (PE) soon. After change of shift, the results came back and the patient was POSITIVE for multiple occlusive DVTs in the LUE and BLE. All extremities had occlusive DVTs. The patient soon after complained of shortness of breath (SOB). I paged the MD and a CT angiography for chest was ordered. After the CT angio the patient was transferred to PCU. I was updated that the results were positive for multiple PEs. Without Lisa's intuition and critical thinking, the patient's outcome would have been less optimal. She exemplified exactly how 7 west executes expert quality patient care.