One way nurses advocate for patients is to perform thorough assessments for a baseline evaluation to prevent life-threatening complications. Laura Miller, BSN, RN on Surgery Unit knows first-hand the importance of doing neurovascular checks on post-operative hip surgeries.
During the night shift she was working and over a period of a few hours, Laura detected and became concerned about changes in her patient's operative extremity. She notified the physician at midnight and influenced him to order additional testing. The results of a CT angiogram indicated the presence of a 16-centimeter superficial femoral artery clot. Immediate preparations were made and the patient was emergently transferred to a tertiary care center to undergo arterial clot removal. Laura's actions saved the patient's lower extremity from tissue death and further complications requiring amputation.
Thank you, Laura, for your patient advocacy and the commendable difference in the quality of life you made for this and all your patients.