stephanie temple, BSN, RN

I was a patient when a new patient was admitted to the other bed in my room. He was post-op from an emergency procedure and in some pain. At some point, he reported to the nurse that he was sweating heavily and did not know why. The nurse responded immediately in a tone of voice that I have heard often in an ambulance. A tone of interest and concern. She immediately asked are you having any difficulty breathing? He answered "No". "Let me check your blood pressure" was her next response. With that proving OK she went as far as "I'll check your blood sugar". In the course of a couple of minutes, the nurse identified and eliminated the immediate life threats. Rather than the obvious response of "it's just a post-op fever let me get you a Tylenol" she acted with quick thinking, knowledge, concern, and compassion towards this patient. Based on the high standards of all the nursing staff, I found her actions exemplary and deserving of recognition.