Itzel is the epitome of professionalism and nursing. Florence Nightingale would be proud! This nurse had her hands full with J. He had just come from the OR and wasn't waking up properly and we were afraid.
Dr. W was a champ in identifying his lactic acid being elevated and choosing to start an insulin drip to help. J had an ART line, insulin drip, JP with excessive drainage, foley with large dumps of urine, and need to get him to CT and give a bolus of 3% NS.
Itzel was doing blood sugar and arterial blood gases every hour (and this is only what I could see on the surface). She also had a patient next door. Itzel never missed a beat. She was able to get everything done absolutely on time including dropping an NG tube. Of course, her fellow RNs helped with some of it. They were great together! All this while keeping a panicked set of parents calm.
Her and Dr. W explaining everything to us as they were doing it was priceless and I can't thank them enough for that. If nurses would talk to families like this more, it helps to calm our fears and lets us know they have things under control or at least are aware of it and working on it. So Thank you Itzel for 2 wonderful stress reduced nights in the ICU!