May 2019
Shannon
Macfarlan
,
RN, CCRN
Surgical-Trauma and Neurosciences Intensive Care Unit
Zuckerberg San Francisco General
San Francisco
,
CA
United States
Shannon was providing care for an MVA survivor with a traumatic brain injury and multiple other injuries. Unfortunately, the patient was the sole survivor in the care and was certainly unable to advocate for himself. The assumption by the police on the scene was that the patient was the driver of the car, and, therefore, was being processed for criminal charges. Needless to say, the situation was profoundly traumatic for the family as well.
When Shannon assumed care for the patient, she performed a detailed physical assessment. One key finding of her assessment was that of a visible seatbelt sign. The bruising showed markings from the right should across the chest to the left hip. Shannon quickly deduced that these markings were evidence that the patient was the passenger and demonstrated that it would have been physically impossible for the patient to have been driving the car during the crash.
Remarkably enough, soon after Shannon made this assessment, police officers came with a warrant to charge the patient with homicide. Shannon was able to tell the officers face-to-face about the passenger seat belt signs, photos were taken, and the charges were dropped.
Imagine how this story might have ended for the patient and family had Shannon not observed her findings and shared that with the police. Shannon said of that day, "This was the best shift of my career, hands down."
As a founding member of the Integrating Multidisciplinary Palliative Care into the Intensive Care Unit (IMPACT ICU) program at ZSFG, she has taught this course with other members for over 2 years, education more than 80 nurses. Her commitment to empowering bedside RNs to have difficult conversations with patients, families, and providers, shines through as she teaches this course, and also as she coaches other RNs at the moment as a subject matter expert.
It is an honor that she chooses to practice in Critical Care at ZSFG; however, her care and compassion goes beyond the bedside of ZSFG. She has volunteered for a medical mission in Tanzania for the past five years, giving her own time and energy. There she shares her knowledge and her passion for those with the most need.
When Shannon assumed care for the patient, she performed a detailed physical assessment. One key finding of her assessment was that of a visible seatbelt sign. The bruising showed markings from the right should across the chest to the left hip. Shannon quickly deduced that these markings were evidence that the patient was the passenger and demonstrated that it would have been physically impossible for the patient to have been driving the car during the crash.
Remarkably enough, soon after Shannon made this assessment, police officers came with a warrant to charge the patient with homicide. Shannon was able to tell the officers face-to-face about the passenger seat belt signs, photos were taken, and the charges were dropped.
Imagine how this story might have ended for the patient and family had Shannon not observed her findings and shared that with the police. Shannon said of that day, "This was the best shift of my career, hands down."
As a founding member of the Integrating Multidisciplinary Palliative Care into the Intensive Care Unit (IMPACT ICU) program at ZSFG, she has taught this course with other members for over 2 years, education more than 80 nurses. Her commitment to empowering bedside RNs to have difficult conversations with patients, families, and providers, shines through as she teaches this course, and also as she coaches other RNs at the moment as a subject matter expert.
It is an honor that she chooses to practice in Critical Care at ZSFG; however, her care and compassion goes beyond the bedside of ZSFG. She has volunteered for a medical mission in Tanzania for the past five years, giving her own time and energy. There she shares her knowledge and her passion for those with the most need.