pam karakusis, RN, BSN, CCRN

I'd like to commend the performance of Nurse Pam Karakusis yesterday in the cardiac OR. She is not an OR nurse, but my understanding is she brings a lot of experience from the Med-Surge wing. I was managing the toughest of all cardiac cases yesterday - a Thoraco-abdominal aneurysm - and not to mince words, it felt like I was under attack in a war zone for several hours after coming off bypass. The patient was bleeding heavily and trying to die at least a dozen times - no exaggeration. During the worst of it, Pam was recruited to come to the OR to help with auto-transfusion which we were all unfamiliar with. Her situational awareness, focus, attention to detail were uncanny - almost freakish. She read the situation for what it was, got the patient the desperately needed blood and coagulation products. It freed up my hands which I desperately needed to keep the patient alive pharmacologically. Pam's concentration rivals that of the finest surgeons I've worked with, and I've seen my share. To do it in a venue which she is not accustomed to makes it all the more impressive. Furthermore, the few times I have dropped patients off in the ICU with her present, I've noticed that while others banter or relax, she's always laser-focused on expediting care. No distraction. Never saw anything like it yesterday. I didn't have to say a word. She just knew. Last I heard, the patient is still alive which is some feat after a 16 hours slog.