May 2021
Mary
Luckhardt
University of Detroit Mercy
Detroit
,
MI
United States
On her last day, Mary saved a life.
I feel one of your students deserves to be recognized for her outstanding work and determination…she joined me in the ER during one of the worst times to be a student…she was un-phased. She would treat even a simple hand laceration as a learning opportunity. Her nursing judgment rivaled that of an experience ER nurse.
On the last day of her rotation, we took reports on five patients. Mary was able to easily identify the most critical patient in our set – an older gentleman with a history of a Triple-A operated on almost a year ago, the patient was in for new-onset chest pain. The reporting nurse reported the pain had resolved and he was on a nitro drip for pain. After the report, your student went in to assess this patient using a hospital translator. 45 minutes later your student called me to the patient’s room when she noticed the patient’s condition changed while checking on him. She correctly determined we need to hold the drip and notify the provider of this acute change. The patient went emergently to the cathlab for intervention. Thanks to this student’s sharp assessment skills and quick thinking, the patient received the care he needed. As a new ER nurse, I used to think saving a life involved coding a patient, then I learned you save lives by not letting them get close to coding. On her last day, Mary saved a life.
On the last day of her rotation, we took reports on five patients. Mary was able to easily identify the most critical patient in our set – an older gentleman with a history of a Triple-A operated on almost a year ago, the patient was in for new-onset chest pain. The reporting nurse reported the pain had resolved and he was on a nitro drip for pain. After the report, your student went in to assess this patient using a hospital translator. 45 minutes later your student called me to the patient’s room when she noticed the patient’s condition changed while checking on him. She correctly determined we need to hold the drip and notify the provider of this acute change. The patient went emergently to the cathlab for intervention. Thanks to this student’s sharp assessment skills and quick thinking, the patient received the care he needed. As a new ER nurse, I used to think saving a life involved coding a patient, then I learned you save lives by not letting them get close to coding. On her last day, Mary saved a life.