Conniecame to be my saving grace one nightshift when I was assigned to work as a staff RN on the observation unit and she was assigned as the charge nurse. The patience, dedication, and expertise she showed that night was phenomenal.
The shift I was assigned to work for Connie'sunit was overwhelming to say the least. I had an assignment of six patients to take care of that night, and four out of the six patients required constant attention throughout the night. One of my patients had a sustained heart rate in the 130's and needed to be started on an amiodarone drip. This same patient also needed electrolyte replacements, multiple labs to be drawn, was on multiple IV antibiotics, and needed to be turned every two hours. Another one of my patients complained of chest pain on a few occasions throughout the night, and this patient needed an EKG done along with having doses of nitroglycerin tabs given to her, which this patient needed to be monitored after the administrations. I then got a patient as a direct admission from the ER who was on an insulin drip and needed to have hourly blood sugar checks. I also had a patient who was on antibiotics every three hours and was also experiencing hematuria while having a foley catheter in. This patient needed to be checked on quite frequently also to have the foley catheter irrigated.
Throughout my shift, Conniecontinuously provided support for me to help me with my patient care.During my shift, I was rushing between my patient rooms to try to complete tasks and I was also paging the physician multiple times to give updates on the patients and to receive orders. During that time,Conniecould see I was becoming overwhelmed. She continuously checked with me to see what I needed help with. She drew labs for me and administered medications for me. She also settled my direct admission I got from the ER and completed the admissions questions for me. She even sent a page to a physician for me while I was paging another physician for a different patient. Throughout this tumultuous time duringmy shift, Connienot once seemed impatient or irritated when I came to her with any questions.
She always had a helpful and friendly approach. She also explained to me the protocol to follow with the amiodarone drip I had to hang for one of my patients, since it was the first experience I had to hang that drip. Throughout all of the help Connieprovided for me, I know she was also checking with other staff members and helping them out any way she could. And to top everything off, not only was she working as the charge nurse of the unit that night and helping out her staff, but she was also assigned two patients herself! Connieherself had to chart vital signs, assessments, and patient care notes on two of her own patients in the midst ofassisting her staff members and providing patient care to other patients on her unit. During myshift, I didn't think I would have time to have a meal break, but Conniemade certain I went on my break that night.
At the end of my shift,Conniesaid to me that she was sorry I had an overwhelming shift. I toldConnieI was just so happy she was there to help me.Connieis an amazing leaderand team player for 1West, we're so grateful for her!