In a short time, I have come to realize the extraordinary care demonstrated by our inpatient rehabilitation team. This is typically a cheerful unit, however, one unassuming Friday evening while Anne was helping one of her 6 patients settle in for the evening she noticed he seemed a bit anxious as he asked to phone his wife. She remembered from report that this patient and his wife had spent much time together during his stay in the ICU, and our Neuro floor prior to coming to inpatient rehab. Anne set the patient up with a phone and stayed present in the room still concerned for his rapid breathing and perceived increased anxiety.
Very shortly after the patient said "I love you" to his wife and hung up the phone, the patient's breathing had increased, concerning Anne enough to call a rapid response for additional help and consultation. Before the team had time to respond to her call, the patient went unresponsive right in front of her.
Anne went into crisis mode and prepared for the oncoming team to tend to the patient. The team performed resuscitation efforts for over an hour with an unsuccessful outcome.
Anne had already reached out to his wife to have her come to the hospital stressing to make sure she had someone to drive her. By the time the patients' wife had arrived to the hospital her husband had passed away and she was devastated. She consoled her with compassion as the patient's wife lashed out at anyone with grief stricken anger, Anne was there. Meanwhile, the CNA had kept the other 5 patients safe and informed that their evening meds would be a bit late, and that as the nurse was free, she would be right there to finish settling them in.
Anne took the time to be with the patient's wife as long as it took for her to feel comfortable leaving. There was a caring exchange of hugs and just like that, the episode was over. The anger had seemed to subside.
Anne then began to attend to the other 5 patients she resided over that evening. At 11:00 meds were passed and patients were settled. It's a small unit, most had heard the commotion and knew something serious had gone on.
If this were any other unit this may not seem so unusual, but this is the first and only code that has occurred on this unit since Aurora BayCare has opened 15 years ago. This is a true testament of the training and discipline Nurses and Nursing Assistants receive to prepare for the unanticipated serious medical events that can happen in the hospital. The care, compassion and nursing excellence showed by Anne, on this evening as well as raw training would have made Florence Nightingale proud.