Lisa Purcell
April 2021
Lisa
Purcell
,
BSN, RN, CEN, TCRN
Emergency Department
Medical Center of the Rockies
Loveland
,
CO
United States
I think Lisa is one of the finest nurses and people I have ever had the opportunity to work with! It is likely her instincts saved that child’s life.
I wanted to share some feedback about a patient encounter last night at MCR. The shift started very busy with a respiratory distress patient, an unstable V-tach patient that required emergent cardioversion, and a 7-year-old boy that turned out to be very ill. As I was working through the chaos, a 7-year-old boy presented with a “head injury” after falling in his room. He was found by his mother complaining of feeling weak on the floor. When he presented, he was awake and appropriate but seemed a little off to the charge nurse Lisa Purcell when she helped to triage him. While continuing her challenging role as charge, Lisa came to me and told me that this patient “just seemed off” and she was worried about him and asked if I was ok drawing labs on him. It would have been very easy, especially in hindsight, to have simply written him off as a concussion, but her instincts were incredibly accurate. It is likely had I seen him alone, I would have done imaging and called it a day without completing lab work.
As it turns out, his CT head and neck were normal as were his vital signs and ECG, but his hemoglobin returned at 5.9 which I couldn’t believe, and repeated it to find it to be 5.6 on repeat. He had no PMH and was not on any medications and had no history of bleeding. It is likely, in retrospect, that he had a syncopal episode from his profound anemia, likely aplastic. He was transfused and transferred to Children’s Hospital for further care. It’s times like this I’m profoundly humbled and appreciative for the quality of the staff I have the absolute privilege to work with. I think Lisa is one of the finest nurses and people I have ever had the opportunity to work with! It is likely her instincts saved that child’s life. I am so honored to be part of the MCR night crew and wanted to share that with you. Humbly and appreciatively!
As it turns out, his CT head and neck were normal as were his vital signs and ECG, but his hemoglobin returned at 5.9 which I couldn’t believe, and repeated it to find it to be 5.6 on repeat. He had no PMH and was not on any medications and had no history of bleeding. It is likely, in retrospect, that he had a syncopal episode from his profound anemia, likely aplastic. He was transfused and transferred to Children’s Hospital for further care. It’s times like this I’m profoundly humbled and appreciative for the quality of the staff I have the absolute privilege to work with. I think Lisa is one of the finest nurses and people I have ever had the opportunity to work with! It is likely her instincts saved that child’s life. I am so honored to be part of the MCR night crew and wanted to share that with you. Humbly and appreciatively!