Rebecca Lenoir
September 2016
Rebecca
Lenoir
,
BSN, RN, PCCN
CCU
Carolinas HealthCare System Lincoln
Lincolntown
,
NC
United States

 

 

 

Rebecca is a nurse in our CCU and functions in the charge nurse role on most weekends. On one particular weekend, a patient and his mother returned to the CCU with many questions and frustrations. The day prior, this young adult had signed out AMA without his mother's knowledge. He was struggling with ETOH withdrawal symptoms and his mother flew in overnight from a different state to be at the hospital with him. When she arrived, her son had already signed out and left the facility. The next day, when Rebecca was in charge, they returned and wanted answers to their questions. Many questions such as "What do we do to get him the help he needs?", "What doctors should I contact?", "We are worried that he will have seizures from the withdrawals, what do we do to prevent that from happening?", etc. Rebecca took the time to take this patient and his mother aside and answer all of their questions very thoroughly. Rebecca educated them on ETOH withdrawal, gave them information on outpatient rehabilitation services, and walked them through how to contact a primary care physician. Rebecca showed great compassion and went above and beyond for this discharged patient and family. She could have sent them away and told them to ask someone else, but she didn't. The mother was very appreciative and the patient now has received knowledge about the steps needed to get him well and to keep him safe.