Michael Ireland
March 2017
Michael
Ireland
,
RN
Intensive Care Unit
Santa Rosa Kaiser Medical Center
Santa Rosa
,
CA
United States

 

 

 

In late December on the night shift, I received a report from Michael Ireland in the morning and could not help but feel impressed with his assessment skills, patient advocacy, and proactive nursing care. He cared for a stage 3 ovarian cancer patient admitted on Bipap in Respiratory distress. Through the night, he assessed the subtle changes in her respiratory status that he foresaw leading to a potential respiratory arrest. He obtained the needed labs and diagnostic tests within our scope of practice. Despite these values being within normal ranges, he knew they were a significant change from the previous values and saw the trend heading in the direction of intubation. He took time to educate the patient on the process of an intubation while she was alert, an explanation of why restraints would be used, and how sedation and pain management would be handled to keep her comfortable, things we are often not able to do when our patients have reached the point of needing emergent intubation. He then had the foresight to advocate for things like NICOM use and influenza screening as his patient's assessments changed. His actions allowed for a calm, non-traumatic intubation for his patient. In addition, he was proactive in providing the Physician with the needed information to make timely decisions regarding his patient's care and protecting the staff from potential exposure to influenza. I am hopeful that someday Michael will apply for his staff nurse III, as his nursing practice demonstrates this level of care on a daily basis. In the meantime, I am hoping the DAISY Award will communicate to him that his care that night exemplified excellent nursing assessment, compassionate patient care, and clear interdisciplinary communication that must be recognized and congratulated.