Recently, the life of my family was changed forever. Our beloved father and husband to our mother lost his life in a sudden onset of unexplained sepsis. He arrived at the ER of PRH on Sunday morning and lost his battle late Monday evening. He received very aggressive care in your ICU, only stopping at DNI/DNR which was his choice via his living will instructions. I would like to call your attention to one of your front-line warriors in your ICU. She worked on Sunday, caring for our loved one, and cared for him until he left the hospital on his final ride Monday night.
Her patient required a high skill level of care. He was maxed out on Levophed and Vasopressin. He was on a high dose of Amiodarone IV as well as a D10W gtt requiring q 2hr FSBS and IV boluses of D50 that often. He was on primary lines with an antibiotic from every family running to try to beat back the origin of his sepsis. He required BiPAP for his respiratory distress and IV meds for comfort care. All of this while dealing with a large grieving family who were too aware of what was coming. At the same time, she also had a vented patient who knew how to use a call bell VERY well.
I never saw or heard her complain. I never saw her eat or drink until the morning. She always made eye contact to ask what she could do for us. She stayed by my side and assisted me in cleaning his body of the lines that had so tried to save him (I requested to do this last care for him out of respect, and she agreed to help as little or as much as I needed). This young lady even came to his services after another long shift, just to offer condolences.
Angelina Lilly encompasses everything The DAISY Award stands for. I spent 12 years of my nursing career at PRH in that ICU. I would have been proud to have worked alongside her. She is an outstanding young RN with a bright future. My family is truly indebted to her. Angelina, thank you from the bottom of our hearts for caring for our dad and the love of my mom's life.