I would like to share a story and praise for one of my night shift nurses. Rebecca was minutes away from the end of her shift when she was faced with a patient who suddenly had uncontrolled bleeding and turned critical very quickly. She walked into the patient's room to find bright red blood covering a significant area of the bed linens. The patient was still awake, alert, and oriented at this time. The patient told Rebecca she was in a significant amount of pain. Rebecca helped the patient turn in order to assess the patient's wound at which time bright red blood started squirting from the wound. She held pressure to stop the bleeding and managed to get the attention of her co-workers. Rebecca called an AAT and the physicians. She handled every aspect of this unique situation with a calm reassuring manner for the patient.
The physician who came to the bedside later shared feedback with our house supervisor. He felt Rebecca did an excellent job and he was impressed with the way the situation was handled. This patient was taken to the ICU and then to surgery where they found a significant bleed/clots and the surgical team all expressed their appreciation for how she handled the care of this patient. Rebecca not only demonstrated clinical proficiency but behaved with calm assurance which reassured the patient and kept the team members focused and proficient.