Night shift nurses are often the unnoticed heroes, working while administration and management sleep. Since I work a mid-shift I work in the land between the day shift and the night shift. This morning when I got to work I was informed that Amanda had gone to Roper in an ambulance from Mount Pleasant with a critical patient. Unfortunately, ten minutes away from the operating room the patient expired from a dissection of the abdominal aorta. When Amanda returned to the department a staff member from radiology asked her about her patient and Amanda's response corrected the question "Our patient, we all worked on saving him."
Amanda is the first to jump in and help and the last one to take credit for her effort. We are all committed to our profession but Amanda's commitment to nursing goes above the norm. She could have gone home at 7am when her shift ended but stayed until she was returned by the paramedics. Amanda is a remarkable team player.
When a pediatric patient enters our department she is always the first one to jump at the chance to care for this unique patient population. Although she has her CPEN certification in pediatric emergency nursing this desire to care for our pediatric community goes beyond her experience at a Pediatric ED and highlights her ease with talking to children and their parents. Amanda is always willing to start an IV, draw blood or collect urine even on the tiniest patients.
Not only does she use her skills with confidence she is also very efficient. We see patients as young as 2 days and as old as 102 and in each category Amanda shines. Her knowledge as an Emergency Room nurse is exemplary. She is calm and confident in almost any situation. Amanda is pleasant and professional. Her compassion surpasses the expectations of the environment in which we practice.