Tiffany Yu
August 2023
Tiffany
Yu
,
MSN, RN
Hematology Inpatient Helford 4 East
City of Hope National Medical Center
Duarte
,
CA
United States
Because she was such a strong advocate for her patient, the surgeon was convinced to order a stat MRI. Again, it resulted quickly, and sure enough, evidence of a large left-sided MCA stroke.
When you are busy, it can be hard to do a thorough assessment of your patients... but not for this nurse. When you are trying to make your case for an acute change seen in your patient to a busy on-call surgeon, it can be quite intimidating...but not for this nurse. And when you go home after your shift, your efforts during the day may not have saved a patient's life... but not for this nurse.
This past Sunday, I received a call from Tiffany asking for a second set of eyes on one of her patients. I quickly hurried to the room, knowing something was wrong as this nurse rarely needed help and rarely even called with a question. Upon getting to the room, she was running through more neuro assessments and turned to me and said, "Oh no, something is off." This patient had a history of squamous cell carcinoma of her oral cavity, requiring a previous surgery, causing her to have longstanding dysphagia and slurred speech at her baseline. The new onset of worsening speech didn’t sit right with Tiffany even though the change wasn’t far off from this patient’s norm. When the patient couldn’t tell her who or where she was, Tiffany acted quickly to page the in-house surgeon to come to the bedside.
When he arrived, cool, calm, and collected, Tiffany accurately updated the terse and busy surgeon with every pertinent detail without intimidation. She knew her assessment was accurate. The surgeon ordered a stat brain CT to r/o an acute stroke. It was quickly resulted…negative. But she knew this just couldn’t be the case. She approached the surgeon again and pleaded her case again, reluctant to stop there. Because she was such a strong advocate for her patient, the surgeon was convinced to order a stat MRI. Again, it resulted quickly, and sure enough, evidence of a large left-sided MCA stroke.
The patient was quickly transferred out to a stroke center and is now stable in the ICU. These updates on the patient's condition came from that same surgeon who had returned to the floor to let the Charge nurse know that Tiffany’s diligence, quick thinking, and sense of urgency saved this patient’s life. With her excellent critical thinking skills and the thorough, compassionate care Tiffany provides to her patients, despite how difficult her assignment is, she is the type of nurse we should all strive to be. If granted this recognition, it would be greatly deserved for Ms. Tiffany Yu.
This past Sunday, I received a call from Tiffany asking for a second set of eyes on one of her patients. I quickly hurried to the room, knowing something was wrong as this nurse rarely needed help and rarely even called with a question. Upon getting to the room, she was running through more neuro assessments and turned to me and said, "Oh no, something is off." This patient had a history of squamous cell carcinoma of her oral cavity, requiring a previous surgery, causing her to have longstanding dysphagia and slurred speech at her baseline. The new onset of worsening speech didn’t sit right with Tiffany even though the change wasn’t far off from this patient’s norm. When the patient couldn’t tell her who or where she was, Tiffany acted quickly to page the in-house surgeon to come to the bedside.
When he arrived, cool, calm, and collected, Tiffany accurately updated the terse and busy surgeon with every pertinent detail without intimidation. She knew her assessment was accurate. The surgeon ordered a stat brain CT to r/o an acute stroke. It was quickly resulted…negative. But she knew this just couldn’t be the case. She approached the surgeon again and pleaded her case again, reluctant to stop there. Because she was such a strong advocate for her patient, the surgeon was convinced to order a stat MRI. Again, it resulted quickly, and sure enough, evidence of a large left-sided MCA stroke.
The patient was quickly transferred out to a stroke center and is now stable in the ICU. These updates on the patient's condition came from that same surgeon who had returned to the floor to let the Charge nurse know that Tiffany’s diligence, quick thinking, and sense of urgency saved this patient’s life. With her excellent critical thinking skills and the thorough, compassionate care Tiffany provides to her patients, despite how difficult her assignment is, she is the type of nurse we should all strive to be. If granted this recognition, it would be greatly deserved for Ms. Tiffany Yu.