Amanda Sigman came to work one weekend in November having no idea the impact she was going to have on a patient and her family. Amanda was caring for an Amish woman who came into the ED for dizziness and back pain. The patient ended up in observation on 6W as a typical "rule out MI" with a plan for cardiac catheterization the following Monday. On Saturday, Amanda cared for this lady and her family, educating them extensively on what they can expect with the procedure and cardiovascular disease in general. She established a strong relationship with this lady and her husband, as well as several visitors who came in.

On Sunday, the day started the same, Amanda and the patient and her family enjoying some good conversation and reiterating the teaching from the day before. The patient was walking in the hall, and expressed to Amanda she was a little nauseous. Amanda encouraged the patient to have some ginger ale. The patient walked back to her room, and Amanda immediately sensed something wasn't right. The patient lay back in her chair and Amanda immediately switched into assessment gear. Right around that time, the patient's telemetry alarms started ringing...the patient's heart rate was in the 40s. Staff rushed in to help and a rapid response was called. The physician responded and Amanda coordinated a very rapid transfer to the cath lab.

During this time, Amanda was in tune with the patient's husband and calmly walked him through what was going to happen, and ensured he had a staff member with him while this was taking place. Once the patient was transferred, Amanda spent extra time calling the patient's contact numbers (as the husband wasn't able to) to inform family of the change in status. Amanda said to her peers, "I'm afraid something significant is going to happen and he won't have a support system here." Amanda was able to reach a family member and then handled multiple calls as the word spread throughout the patient's community. While helping to navigate these questions, a critical response was called in the cath lab. Amanda "felt it in her gut that she needed to respond" and ran to the cath lab. She found the physician and two techs who were in a position of needing assistance. They threw "lead" on Amanda and she was able to help care for the patient until the critical response team arrived, managing IV medications and the code cart in the cath lab. Once the response team arrived, Amanda, assured the patient was in good hands, went in search of the patient's husband. She found him as well as several other family members and was able to talk them through what was happening. The family was very appreciative of this.

I know this because to this day they call the unit to talk to Amanda and thank her for her caring demeanor that weekend and for her rapid intervention that Sunday. The call to say "hi," to see how she is doing, and to report their own progress. The husband was also recently a patient on our unit, and asked that Amanda care for him as well. This is one of those cases where a nurse can bask in the glow of knowing how significantly they impacted someone's life. This is what Amanda does for her patients. Every day.