An 84 year old widowed female was in our department and had a rhino-rocket placed due to epistaxis. Two days later, Anita placed a follow-up call to her and during their conversation the patient stated that she was not feeling very well and had a temperature of 102.4 and hurt all over. She also stated she lived alone.

Anita told the patient she needed to be re-assessed and since it was too late to see a doctor, she should return to the ED. The patient was reluctant to return because she already had a follow-up appointment in a few days for removal of the rhino-rocket.

Anita continued to express concern about the patient's condition and after much coaxing was able to convince the patient to return to our ED. While the patient was in our intake area - she experienced a syncopal episode. She was ultimately admitted and diagnosed with toxic shock syndrome and syncope and ended up staying at MGMC as an inpatient for several days.

This is not only highlights the value of the patient resource nurse but also highlights Anita's skills and values as she helped prevent a possible poor outcome for this patient. Anita took the time to stay on the phone and convince the patient to seek medical attention sooner rather than later, and used her nursing intuition and knowledge base to realize something was just not right. Her intervention most likely saved this woman's life - who knows what would have happened if this patient had stayed home alone without anyone to check on her.

Anita showed compassion and critical thinking skills and to me this is the essence of an extraordinary nurse.