Susan Farris
October 2020
Susan
Farris
,
RN
Emergency Department
Memorial Hospital at Gulfport
Gulfport
,
MS
United States
I am writing this nomination on the one year anniversary of my dad's visit to the ER where he presented with symptoms of a stroke. He received t-PA in the Emergency Department and had an interventional procedure for stent placement in the Cath Lab. It is noted that dad was in the ICU for 5 days, and he returned to the Cath Lab a second time for an additional stent. He suffered no notable side effects from the stroke.
I have such vivid memories of that evening. I was very impressed with Susan's abilities and how she interacted with my dad at the time. I have thought of her often throughout this past year, and my family is grateful for the quick reactions of all we encountered upon our arrival.
The team out front sprang into action before we even had him out of the car. An ED aide assisted in getting him in a wheelchair. I could tell the ED was busy, and the room he was assigned to had yet to be cleaned by housekeeping. Susan immediately apologized for the condition of the room while the aides were kicking debris from the last patient out of the way. Susan introduced herself and was very calm. She confirmed that they were extremely busy but that he was her priority.
The use of t-PA was decided almost immediately, so other staff came into the room to assist Susan. She maintained a calm presence and led the process. It was a team effort, other RNs, techs, night supervisors, and aides working together. A couple of nurses were reading the packet insert to calculate the dosage and other people were making calls. These actions allowed Susan to focus on dad while being very calm and supportive. They explained to both of us what was happening and why. I recalled Susan asking dad's permission to remove his clothing. He was alert, but his speech was slurred, and his left side was limp. He was able to communicate, so she directed questions to him because he understood what was going on.
Everything was moving so fast, yet I felt like it was in slow motion. I remember their actions being deliberate as I stood back out of their way and observed them in action. While it has been a year since the event, the impact Susan and her team made on us remains, and we celebrated dad's 81st birthday last week.
I have such vivid memories of that evening. I was very impressed with Susan's abilities and how she interacted with my dad at the time. I have thought of her often throughout this past year, and my family is grateful for the quick reactions of all we encountered upon our arrival.
The team out front sprang into action before we even had him out of the car. An ED aide assisted in getting him in a wheelchair. I could tell the ED was busy, and the room he was assigned to had yet to be cleaned by housekeeping. Susan immediately apologized for the condition of the room while the aides were kicking debris from the last patient out of the way. Susan introduced herself and was very calm. She confirmed that they were extremely busy but that he was her priority.
The use of t-PA was decided almost immediately, so other staff came into the room to assist Susan. She maintained a calm presence and led the process. It was a team effort, other RNs, techs, night supervisors, and aides working together. A couple of nurses were reading the packet insert to calculate the dosage and other people were making calls. These actions allowed Susan to focus on dad while being very calm and supportive. They explained to both of us what was happening and why. I recalled Susan asking dad's permission to remove his clothing. He was alert, but his speech was slurred, and his left side was limp. He was able to communicate, so she directed questions to him because he understood what was going on.
Everything was moving so fast, yet I felt like it was in slow motion. I remember their actions being deliberate as I stood back out of their way and observed them in action. While it has been a year since the event, the impact Susan and her team made on us remains, and we celebrated dad's 81st birthday last week.