Ryan Hengst
May 2023
Ryan
Hengst
,
RN
Ambulatory Surgery Center
Cleveland Clinic Medina Hospital
Medina
,
OH
United States

 

 

 

Because of Ryan's quick thinking, his assessment skills, and the ED being ready, this patient received incredibly fast stroke care which will lead to a much better outcome.
Ryan had just finished admitting a patient here for a routine carpal tunnel surgery. After he was done with the admission process, Ryan went out to the waiting room to bring his wife back to the bedside. Upon walking back to the pre-op area, she became disoriented, leaned against the wall to not fall down, and complained of left arm and leg numbness. A wheelchair was brought over for her to sit in and a BEFAST assessment was performed.

All criteria of the test were passed, even though she was still disoriented and continued with the numbness. Trusting his gut, Ryan told her he was taking her to the ED for an evaluation. Ryan called the ED and gave a report. The visitor waived to her husband as she was taken out of pre-op. She was taken directly back to the ED where a stroke alert was called, and the CT scan came back positive showing an occlusion on the right side of the brain. Because of Ryan's quick thinking, his assessment skills, and the ED being ready, this patient received incredibly fast stroke care which will lead to a much better outcome. Some people say that everything happens for a reason...she was meant to be in our hospital that day.