Green Bay Surgery and Anesthesia Team
March 2021
Green
Team
Clement J. Zablocki VA Medical Center - Green Bay Clinic
Green Bay
,
WI
United States
Front row (left to right): Cecile Pe, Sarah Beth Lemmer, Jennifer Ninham, Natasha Koehler
Center row (left to right): Laurie Helebrant, Dawn Miller-Bergemann, Renee Miller, Sharon Maki, Odette Balza-Burt
Back row (left to right): Tom Corbley, Jeff Steinhorst, Tim Johnson, Dr. James Mitchell, Sandy Peters, Brooke
Williams, Theresa Wrolstad, AJ Walker
Center row (left to right): Laurie Helebrant, Dawn Miller-Bergemann, Renee Miller, Sharon Maki, Odette Balza-Burt
Back row (left to right): Tom Corbley, Jeff Steinhorst, Tim Johnson, Dr. James Mitchell, Sandy Peters, Brooke
Williams, Theresa Wrolstad, AJ Walker
J, a young Veteran, showed up for surgery, crutches in hand, around 0700, because he said a message had been left for him (a while back) that a spot had opened up for an earlier surgery date. He said that he’d gotten a message and he was here for the surgery. After checking OR schedule, the Veteran was not scheduled for that day because he didn’t call back to confirm the surgery date. The MSA went to RN Theresa Wrolstad’s office, the OR Scheduler, and let her know about the Veteran.
After talking and listening to him, she said she didn’t want to just send him home. She told him to be seated, and she’d talk to the doctor and the rest staff to see if we could squeeze him in somehow. RN Wrolstad, knew that we already had another, exact same, procedure scheduled; which meant that almost everything needed for Justin’s surgery would already be in the OR for the other veteran’s surgery. She spoke to the APC team who collectively agreed: “We’ll make it work.” That is the hourly, daily, weekly attitude of this entire surgery team. Someone always steps up to pick up any extra or unexpended work. RN Wrolstad spoke to Dr. James Mitchell, the surgeon, to advocate for the patient. Dr. Mitchell reviewed the patient’s records and agreed to accept J for surgery that day.
J was in APC and getting prepped for surgery within 30 minutes of arrival at the MSA desk, the whole APC team switched up, juggled, and made sure someone took on every aspect of his care. It was an involved process that required bringing together the efforts of the OR and Anesthesia teams (RNs, CRNAs, and Techs), Pharmacy, Housekeeping, and even outside Vendor Reps.
An impromptu multi-disciplinary huddle with the surgeon, Anesthesia, APC, and OR staff sort of came together to iron out the details. OR and Anesthesia Technicians were alerted about the additional case and were already prepping for the added surgery. The OR and Anesthesia nurses worked together by coordinating with vendors and pharmacy, then pitched in and took on extra tasks to make the unexpected surgery possible. CRNA Brooke Williams, stepped up and took his case as Nurse Anesthetist. To this team, this was just another day, but as a Veteran who has been a patient at several VA facilities, I know that this day was not just another day.
After talking and listening to him, she said she didn’t want to just send him home. She told him to be seated, and she’d talk to the doctor and the rest staff to see if we could squeeze him in somehow. RN Wrolstad, knew that we already had another, exact same, procedure scheduled; which meant that almost everything needed for Justin’s surgery would already be in the OR for the other veteran’s surgery. She spoke to the APC team who collectively agreed: “We’ll make it work.” That is the hourly, daily, weekly attitude of this entire surgery team. Someone always steps up to pick up any extra or unexpended work. RN Wrolstad spoke to Dr. James Mitchell, the surgeon, to advocate for the patient. Dr. Mitchell reviewed the patient’s records and agreed to accept J for surgery that day.
J was in APC and getting prepped for surgery within 30 minutes of arrival at the MSA desk, the whole APC team switched up, juggled, and made sure someone took on every aspect of his care. It was an involved process that required bringing together the efforts of the OR and Anesthesia teams (RNs, CRNAs, and Techs), Pharmacy, Housekeeping, and even outside Vendor Reps.
An impromptu multi-disciplinary huddle with the surgeon, Anesthesia, APC, and OR staff sort of came together to iron out the details. OR and Anesthesia Technicians were alerted about the additional case and were already prepping for the added surgery. The OR and Anesthesia nurses worked together by coordinating with vendors and pharmacy, then pitched in and took on extra tasks to make the unexpected surgery possible. CRNA Brooke Williams, stepped up and took his case as Nurse Anesthetist. To this team, this was just another day, but as a Veteran who has been a patient at several VA facilities, I know that this day was not just another day.