While caring for a critically ill patient a question came up about how to administer a medication that is not regularly used on our unit. Rebecca has been working with the Med Safety Committee in establishing best practice for administering this medication. I reached out to Rebecca at home to ask her for direction as the policy she was researching was not available to the staff at the time.While it would have been an option to start a new line and not have to worry about medication compatibilities and risk of CLABSI, that was not the best option for this patient. Multiple attempts would have been needed to start another line on this critical patient and would have caused him a great deal of pain.
To avoid resorting to another IV access, Rebecca guided me step-by-step over the phone and then came in to the unit on her day off.She walked me through what she and our clinical educator found to be best practice for this patient at this particular time. Rebecca showed compassion and care for me as a co-worker as I was conflicted on how to best give a medication without causing unnecessary harm to the patient.
I felt a great deal of support and compassion that evening not just from Rebecca who came in on her day off, but from the entire staff who was working that evening. They jumped in and helped out to be sure the patient's needs were addressed in a timely manner, so when the time came for the family to visit their loved one, they could be met with a promising report.
Rebecca came to work the next day (also her day off) to meet again with our clinical educator to finalize the procedure. Her dedication and care for her co-workers and patients I feel is worthy of the DAISY Award.