Shawna goes above and beyond for all of her patients every shift I work with her. Yesterday, however, I witnessed her go above and beyond the stratosphere for a patient. The patient was very ill and needed to be admitted to the hospital. He also had an altered mental status initially upon arrival at the ER. Shawna remembered this patient and had taken care of him previously in the ER. She knew this was not his normal mentation. She remembered from the last time she had him as a patient that he was the sole caregiver of his two school-aged children, ages 10 and 13. She had told me that he had left AMA on his last visit, because he needed to take care of his kids and didn't have anyone to take care of them if he stayed in the hospital.

Shawna knew that the patient needed to be admitted, and didn't want the same thing to happen. There were still a few hours of the school day left, and Shawna didn't want his kids left without a plan while their dad was in the hospital. So, she sat at her desk and made phone call after phone call, trying to get in touch with people. She spoke to the patient's PCP, emergency contacts, family, and friends. At one point, she was going to call the school district to let them know who was going to be picking up the kids from school. She knew every detail of the kids' modified schedules and their plan of care while Dad would be in the hospital. She was then able to relay all of these intricate details about the patient's children to the patient. To say that the patient was grateful is an understatement. It was something he didn't have to worry about, because Shawna had it completely under control, so he could receive the absolute best care in our ER, and in the hospital once admitted. I think this is a prime example of being an extraordinary nurse.