Ashley and I work together in CCU. I am on the day shift and she is on the night shift. We often prefer to share assignments that allow us to report back and forth to each other. We are like-minded, detail-oriented, and work hard in our care and advocacy of our critically ill patients and their families. Ashley is an incredible team player and resource on our night crew. She is consistent in her intellect and passion for nursing.
About a month ago, Ashley and I shared in caring for a patient who was extraordinarily ill. The assignment was one-to-one, as this patient was unstable, requiring CRRT and extremely close monitoring. This patient was not new to Sparrow's critical care and Ashley had met him and his family earlier in his stay, forming a special connection with them. When his condition worsened, and he needed truly intensive nursing care, Ashley was not there as she was not scheduled to work. She heard about his condition, literally canceled her personal plans, and came in to personally care for him. She barely left his room that night, demonstrating excellent critical thinking skills, anticipatory interventions, and advocacy as she worked with our resident physician to save his life. She also counseled the family through the difficult night.
She undoubtedly set the day team up for a successful day. While he was not awake, he was visited by multiple friends and family members who said anticipatory good-byes. Her second night with him was similar. She stayed consistently by his bedside, observing small changes in his status and found specific, patient-centered interventions that improved his status and allowed him to wake up and squeeze his family member's hands. I am 100% certain that she is the reason he survived that night. As a result, his family members were all able to make it to CCU to hold his hand while he saw each of them. Sadly, this was his last rally, and he passed away later that day.
Thanks to Ashley, he and each of his family members were able to have a wonderful waking moment together before he passed. His family expressed overwhelming gratitude for this. One of our residents also told me that day that Ashley is stubborn, but if he was a patient, he would want her as his nurse. The loss of this patient was hard for both of us. Taking care of him was physically and emotionally exhausting, but also extraordinary. Those of us on day shift often get the benefits of "thank yous" while nurses on night shift fly under the radar. Ashley is truly an Extraordinary Nurse.
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Ashley worked tirelessly to provide care for my dad through three nights in the CCU. She helped my mom and I understand how my dad was being cared for after intubation when we were notified of his transfer to CCU at 2 am. She came in on her night off (night two) to run the dialysis machine for my dad due to scheduled nurses not having the training to run this machine. When my dad's pH dropped to 7.09, she helped administer rapid corrective action to stabilize him. The next night, she also explicitly explained "comfort care" to us after the doctor asked if this was the chosen course of action. As family outside the medical field, we did want our dad to be comfortable but did not know the full implications of this. We are grateful for her compassionate explanation so that our entire family could be present for his eventual passing the next day. When his ventilation was declining that night, she showed innovation with the respiratory therapist by turning my dad on his side which succeeded in increasing his lung capacity. Ashley respected our need to know and cared for our dad and our family. She showed excellence in nursing care by contacting the doctors multiple times throughout her shifts for important interventions (labs, dialysis changes, initiation of necessary medication). Ashley is an outstanding nurse.