My husband was admitted to Douglas Hospital for surgery. He has a very bad history of severe confusion during post-op recovery. I spoke with the anesthesiologist and told them what worked for him, but because he was under analgesia for such a long time, he became very confused. I tried to tell them how to shorten this confusion, but they were unable to stop it.
We were transferred to ICU where we met Akeya. She was our nurse for the night. She called me into the room after assessing the situation and asked me what worked for him in the past. I told her that the last time we reversed all the medications he had been given and did not give any pain meds until he could ask for them. They ordered meds to reverse the versed and stopped the medication. She stayed in the room with him until he was in restraints and stable medically. We then waited several hours until he started coming around. This may have seemed nothing to anyone else but to me, this was the mark of exceptional nurses.
My husband really has a big fear of losing control during post-op recovery. He usually loses time and no memory of what happened. He counts on me to be there during his recovery to be his spokesperson. Akeya made me feel that what I had to say was important and would help my husband. She made a difference in our length of stay and our post-op outcome. Thank you, Akeya.