Trauma Neuro ICU Team
July 2020
Trauma
Health
Trauma Neuro ICU
Ascension St. Vincent Indianapolis Hospital and Health Care Center
Indianapolis
,
IN
United States
Hannah Wise, RN, TCRN; Josie Keller, RN; Logan Sears, RN; Kara Yaraschefski, RN; Amber Allen-Smith, CCRN, TCRN; Tracy Finney, CCRN, SCRN, TCRN; Amanda Grom, RN; Valerie Holtz, RN; Jacqueline Allen, RN; Allison Arnold, RN; Ciara Beck, RN; Christia Bobbit, RN; Mackenzie Cannaday, RN; Patience Chikuri, RN; Amanda Corder, RN; Laura Cunningham, RN; Kelly Domenech, RN; Ashley Drake, RN; Olivia Eads, RN; Janelle Eanes, RN; Lauren Elston, RN; Samantha Flodder, RN; Hannah Foreman, RN; Jaclyn Fullove, RN; Stephanie Fultz, RN; Bonnie Green, RN; Kendyll Haak, RN; Jennie Herbertz, RN; Dajana Jovanovic, RN; Kylie Kramer, RN; Kelly Leard, RN; Jennifer Lee, RN; Meredith Light, RN; Danielle Mackenzie, RN; Katelyn Mathison,RN; Molly Matthews,RN; Rebecca Mattingly,RN; Carolyn McGuire,RN; Jacqueline McQuenney,RN; Susie Merritt, RN; Shanna Morris, RN; Ben Morse, RN; Nilaben Patel, RN; Shelley Poznic-Schoenle, RN; Codi Raab, RN; Lindsey Robeson, RN; Barbara Roesch, RN; Jared Schafer, RN; Jennifer Sebestyen, RN; Kelsey Shannon, RN; Heather Stogsdill, RN; Ashton Symons, RN; Sarah Uminski, RN; Christina Van Ryckeghem, RN; RaeAnn Walden, RN; Kristen Walker, RN; Donnie Waltman, RN; Ashley Youngstafel, RN
My husband, M, was a patient at St Vincent Indianapolis starting in August through October of 2018. I would like to recognize the nurses who touched our family in an extraordinary way. I would like to tell the story of how my husband and our family came to know these incredible nurses and their team.
My husband was taken to St Vincent Indianapolis from St Vincent Evansville via Stat Flight. He suffered a stroke. The amazing doctors in Interventional Radiology were able to remove the clot and save his brain from further damage. He was taken to the Neuro/Surgical/Trauma ICU. He was regaining the movement and speech he had lost with the stroke. The doctors felt there was no reason he would not make a full or close to full recovery. Unfortunately, that wasn't the end of the story.
Logan was our night nurse on a Thursday. My daughter and I connected with her immediately and knew M was in good hands. M had a horrible day Friday. He was very restless and uncomfortable. He kept saying something was wrong and my daughter witnessed what she thought was a seizure.
Shortly after the change of shift M started having trouble breathing and was intubated. They found he was bleeding from his spleen. Logan was his nurse that night and it was amazing watching her and the rest of the team step up to save my husband under the direction of Emily NP and Dr. Preston. Their calm demeanor gave us such peace. With my experience as a PICU nurse, I knew they were doing everything they could do to save him. Dr. Preston took my daughter aside and explained everything that was going on in words she could understand. They saved my husband's life for the second time in two days. Logan has gone on to check on us as our journey has continued through other units in the hospital. She came to spend time with our family as M went to open-heart surgery. Now to the rest of the story......
In my experience in health care, I know there are lots of good nurses and the occasional not so good nurse. The number of great nurses is less, and we not only had Logan to care for us we also had Kara, Josie, and Hannah. They are all great nurses. My daughter and I were completely distressed over everything that happened the night before M was sedated and intubated and we were so helpless. Kara and Josie paid so much attention to detail; down to wiping M's face because it looked "shiny". Those things may seem like such a small thing, but to a family member, it is everything. It is so easy to get caught up in all the technology and forget that there is a husband, father, son, and Paw Paw lying in that bed. Kara sat and listened to our fears and concerns. Her confidence and compassion gave us so much peace. We felt comfortable stepping away from the bedside from time to time because we knew he was in good hands.
The first thing the next morning Hannah approached me and recognized me from when we worked together at St. Vincent Evansville. My daughter was having so much distress over the events of the day before. Hannah talked to her privately and addressed her concerns and fears. This brought great comfort to her and Hannah's calming presence helped us both. She has a gift as a leader.
The following weekend Kara was again caring for M. He was more awake and having some ICU delirium Hannah and Kara took the time to get him up in a chair and took him out in the hall to look out the windows. Again, the little things that mean so much.
If not for the outstanding care from these nurses and the entire Neuro/Surgical/Trauma ICU Team, our story could have been so different. Our family will forever be indebted. From the bottom of our hearts, we thank you.
My husband was taken to St Vincent Indianapolis from St Vincent Evansville via Stat Flight. He suffered a stroke. The amazing doctors in Interventional Radiology were able to remove the clot and save his brain from further damage. He was taken to the Neuro/Surgical/Trauma ICU. He was regaining the movement and speech he had lost with the stroke. The doctors felt there was no reason he would not make a full or close to full recovery. Unfortunately, that wasn't the end of the story.
Logan was our night nurse on a Thursday. My daughter and I connected with her immediately and knew M was in good hands. M had a horrible day Friday. He was very restless and uncomfortable. He kept saying something was wrong and my daughter witnessed what she thought was a seizure.
Shortly after the change of shift M started having trouble breathing and was intubated. They found he was bleeding from his spleen. Logan was his nurse that night and it was amazing watching her and the rest of the team step up to save my husband under the direction of Emily NP and Dr. Preston. Their calm demeanor gave us such peace. With my experience as a PICU nurse, I knew they were doing everything they could do to save him. Dr. Preston took my daughter aside and explained everything that was going on in words she could understand. They saved my husband's life for the second time in two days. Logan has gone on to check on us as our journey has continued through other units in the hospital. She came to spend time with our family as M went to open-heart surgery. Now to the rest of the story......
In my experience in health care, I know there are lots of good nurses and the occasional not so good nurse. The number of great nurses is less, and we not only had Logan to care for us we also had Kara, Josie, and Hannah. They are all great nurses. My daughter and I were completely distressed over everything that happened the night before M was sedated and intubated and we were so helpless. Kara and Josie paid so much attention to detail; down to wiping M's face because it looked "shiny". Those things may seem like such a small thing, but to a family member, it is everything. It is so easy to get caught up in all the technology and forget that there is a husband, father, son, and Paw Paw lying in that bed. Kara sat and listened to our fears and concerns. Her confidence and compassion gave us so much peace. We felt comfortable stepping away from the bedside from time to time because we knew he was in good hands.
The first thing the next morning Hannah approached me and recognized me from when we worked together at St. Vincent Evansville. My daughter was having so much distress over the events of the day before. Hannah talked to her privately and addressed her concerns and fears. This brought great comfort to her and Hannah's calming presence helped us both. She has a gift as a leader.
The following weekend Kara was again caring for M. He was more awake and having some ICU delirium Hannah and Kara took the time to get him up in a chair and took him out in the hall to look out the windows. Again, the little things that mean so much.
If not for the outstanding care from these nurses and the entire Neuro/Surgical/Trauma ICU Team, our story could have been so different. Our family will forever be indebted. From the bottom of our hearts, we thank you.