One evening, my 6th grandchild was born at Community Medical Center. I was fortunate to be allowed in the OR suite as my daughter gave birth to a seemingly healthy and robust 7lb, 2oz infant. All signs were normal, and she appeared the picture of health.
The next evening it was time for her 24-hour assessment and there were so many new babies requiring assessment, the nurses in the nursery were quite busy. Katelyn offered to assist in the nursery and assessed my granddaughter, who still appeared normal and healthy.
During Katelyn's assessment, she heard a suspicious murmur that caused her concern. She continued to further assess and discussed her findings with the night pediatrician. Soon an EKG and echocardiogram were ordered and performed. The echocardiogram revealed what Katelyn had suspected: coarctation of the aorta. The following day our granddaughter was transferred to Children's Hospital of Philadelphia and two days later she underwent cardiac surgery to repair the life-threatening defect.
Had Katelyn not noted the murmur or not acted immediately to respond to this finding, I am not sure that my granddaughter would be here with us today. I am a Cardiac Nurse of 29 years, a Certified Nurse Practitioner, and a senior Nursing Instructor. I know that assessing heart murmurs is a skill and art. It also takes courage and confidence in your skills to alert physicians in the middle of the night of concerns. Katelyn did not hesitate to offer her assistance to others on that busy evening and did not hesitate to notify the physician, EKG tech, and sonographer of the need to act accordingly. She is a true hero in my daughter and our family's eyes. There is an old phrase we would say on occasion when working in the ICU: "You need a nurse to save your life." Katelyn was that nurse.
I was fortunate to be able to speak with Katelyn over the phone several nights later when she was at work. She was very humble and kind as I told her what had transpired after her care. I told her that our family will be forever in her debt and that this story along with her name will be among the mandatory lessons I pass along to the nursing students I teach each semester: the importance of assessing, the importance of corroborating your findings with the physician and/or nurse colleagues, and the importance of acting swiftly when something is not right. I have repeated this story to many of our CMC cardiologists and anesthesiologists, nurses, and other healthcare professionals that I work with daily. Katelyn stands for what is right about healthcare.