Maggie Cowan
August 2016
Maggie
Cowan
,
RN
Medicine Unit 7West
Providence St. Vincent Medical Center
Portland
,
OR
United States

 

 

 

Maggie admitted a patient from the ER that was end stage ALS on a ventilator that was being admitted for pneumonia. Right away she developed a relationship with the husband and son of the patient and established the goals of care the family wanted for their wife/mother. When the patient started to decompensate with her blood pressure and was not responding to fluid resuscitation, Maggie pulled the physician to the bedside and help support the patient and family's wishes as they discussed goals of care and what was realistic for the patient to recover from the pneumonia. When the decision was made to pull life support, Maggie and the RT worked wonderful together to make sure they were comfortable. The patient passed away comfortably and the family felt very supported through the whole evening with Maggie.