December 2009
Dawn
Clapp
,
RN, ADN
7B, Transplant & ICARE
UPMC Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh
,
PA
United States
Dawn Clapp, RN, AND
7B, Transplant & ICARE
I would like to tell you of a situation that happened this week. On Monday, August 3, 2009 about 10 am Dawn called the IV team. I happened to be working clinical that day and received the call. She had a patient who was four years of age on her unit that she was caring for. She had cared for this patient several days who was admitted for an infection. The patient was very afraid of needles. She was so afraid of needles that there was an order written to hide all oral syringes from this young girl and put any oral medication into a medicine cup so that she would not see a syringe. The patient needed to have blood drawn frequently which was very difficult due to her size. Her father would sit at her bedside and cry with her while this service was being done.
Mom mentioned to Dawn that CC was to have a PICC line place. Mom was concerned as the resident told her that the IV team could place this line at bedside. Dawn knew that CC was going to MRI that day to have a procedure done under general anesthesia and called to see if it was possible for the IV team to put in a PICC line while CC was under anesthesia. I told her as long as there was an order for us to do this and it could be arranged with anesthesia and MRI, we could do it. I called the resident who was caring for this child to see if this process could be started a CC was to be in MRI at 11:15. When I called the resident (who was obviously new) and told her of Dawn’s suggestion to have this done with her MRI, she explained to me that she would discuss it with her superiors during rounds later that day. I told her that we did not have time to wait. She said that was the best that she could do. I called Dawn back and explained the situation to her. A short while later, Dawn called me back. She explained to me that she had called anesthesia herself and found out the name of the physician in charge of CC’s case. He agreed to fit this in and told me to call him. As I called him, Dawn took it upon herself to call the attending physician who then put the orders in for us to place a PICC line. I called the anesthesia physician to make the arrangements for us to go to the MRI induction room to have this procedure done. It was done after she was induced and prior to this young girl going in to have her MRI.
Because of Dawn’s concern for this child, she did not have to be taken to another procedure the next day and sedated again. I feel that this saved the hospital time and money, but more than this, she saved this child and family additional worry and fear. Many nurses may have left this situation alone and allowed the doctors to dictate how the care would for this child. She did not stop at being told it would be done later, she was vigilant at pursuing this combination of procedures to benefit this child.
7B, Transplant & ICARE
I would like to tell you of a situation that happened this week. On Monday, August 3, 2009 about 10 am Dawn called the IV team. I happened to be working clinical that day and received the call. She had a patient who was four years of age on her unit that she was caring for. She had cared for this patient several days who was admitted for an infection. The patient was very afraid of needles. She was so afraid of needles that there was an order written to hide all oral syringes from this young girl and put any oral medication into a medicine cup so that she would not see a syringe. The patient needed to have blood drawn frequently which was very difficult due to her size. Her father would sit at her bedside and cry with her while this service was being done.
Mom mentioned to Dawn that CC was to have a PICC line place. Mom was concerned as the resident told her that the IV team could place this line at bedside. Dawn knew that CC was going to MRI that day to have a procedure done under general anesthesia and called to see if it was possible for the IV team to put in a PICC line while CC was under anesthesia. I told her as long as there was an order for us to do this and it could be arranged with anesthesia and MRI, we could do it. I called the resident who was caring for this child to see if this process could be started a CC was to be in MRI at 11:15. When I called the resident (who was obviously new) and told her of Dawn’s suggestion to have this done with her MRI, she explained to me that she would discuss it with her superiors during rounds later that day. I told her that we did not have time to wait. She said that was the best that she could do. I called Dawn back and explained the situation to her. A short while later, Dawn called me back. She explained to me that she had called anesthesia herself and found out the name of the physician in charge of CC’s case. He agreed to fit this in and told me to call him. As I called him, Dawn took it upon herself to call the attending physician who then put the orders in for us to place a PICC line. I called the anesthesia physician to make the arrangements for us to go to the MRI induction room to have this procedure done. It was done after she was induced and prior to this young girl going in to have her MRI.
Because of Dawn’s concern for this child, she did not have to be taken to another procedure the next day and sedated again. I feel that this saved the hospital time and money, but more than this, she saved this child and family additional worry and fear. Many nurses may have left this situation alone and allowed the doctors to dictate how the care would for this child. She did not stop at being told it would be done later, she was vigilant at pursuing this combination of procedures to benefit this child.