Maria Gutierrez
March 2022
Maria
Gutierrez
,
LPN
Primary Care Clinic
Southern AZ VA Health Care System
Tucson
,
AZ
United States
it all started with a nurse who possesses the strongest Superpower of all…caring.
Fewer topics are more hotly debated on social media than, “What is the best Super Power?” Flying and super strength are always popular choices but, for one very lucky veteran, B, the greatest superpower will always be the one possessed by Maria Gutierrez.
This veteran's story started about three years ago when he had his first of many abdominal surgeries. Like many of our veterans, B rarely complains about the pain he is suffering, so when he started mentioning severe and life altering symptoms, his providers did not ignore him. Consults were written for the usual tests and procedures which all came back as negative and B was told his symptoms were normal after all of the surgeries.
When a football size lump could be seen protruding under the skin of his abdomen, Maria sprang into action. B’s PCP had been deployed to the COVID tent in the SAVAHCS ED to examine and triage the sickest of the veterans coming into the ED for help. Maria left the Ocotillo Clinic and went straight into the COVID tent [wearing all the correct [PPE] to find B’s Primary Care Provider.
The doctor immediately ordered a STAT MRI. Maria telephoned the veteran and told him he needed to come to the hospital right away. When the MRI results were available, B was taken urgently to the OR for a ten-hour surgery to remove a cancerous tumor.
B cannot sleep without a CPAP. At home he had a mask that had been special ordered to fit his face. It had been misplaced when B transferred from one Unit to ICU as part of COVID precautions. The hospital did not have a replacement mask to fit B and his wife could not bring him one from home due to the “No Visitor” rule in place because of the pandemic. Also due to the Pandemic, the VA did not have its usual crew of Volunteers who would normally help with this sort of dilemma. None of this was going to stop Maria. She stood outside in the 110+ degree heat so that B’s wife could make a contactless delivery of B’s last mask from home. Maria hand-delivered the CPAP to B who was then able to sleep peacefully.
Maria will be the first to say “I was only doing my job” but everyone else will say that she saved a life. Yes, there was a whole team of extraordinary people working together to save B, but it all started with a nurse who possesses the strongest Superpower of all…caring.
This veteran's story started about three years ago when he had his first of many abdominal surgeries. Like many of our veterans, B rarely complains about the pain he is suffering, so when he started mentioning severe and life altering symptoms, his providers did not ignore him. Consults were written for the usual tests and procedures which all came back as negative and B was told his symptoms were normal after all of the surgeries.
When a football size lump could be seen protruding under the skin of his abdomen, Maria sprang into action. B’s PCP had been deployed to the COVID tent in the SAVAHCS ED to examine and triage the sickest of the veterans coming into the ED for help. Maria left the Ocotillo Clinic and went straight into the COVID tent [wearing all the correct [PPE] to find B’s Primary Care Provider.
The doctor immediately ordered a STAT MRI. Maria telephoned the veteran and told him he needed to come to the hospital right away. When the MRI results were available, B was taken urgently to the OR for a ten-hour surgery to remove a cancerous tumor.
B cannot sleep without a CPAP. At home he had a mask that had been special ordered to fit his face. It had been misplaced when B transferred from one Unit to ICU as part of COVID precautions. The hospital did not have a replacement mask to fit B and his wife could not bring him one from home due to the “No Visitor” rule in place because of the pandemic. Also due to the Pandemic, the VA did not have its usual crew of Volunteers who would normally help with this sort of dilemma. None of this was going to stop Maria. She stood outside in the 110+ degree heat so that B’s wife could make a contactless delivery of B’s last mask from home. Maria hand-delivered the CPAP to B who was then able to sleep peacefully.
Maria will be the first to say “I was only doing my job” but everyone else will say that she saved a life. Yes, there was a whole team of extraordinary people working together to save B, but it all started with a nurse who possesses the strongest Superpower of all…caring.