Courtney Billig
January 2022
Courtney
Billig
,
RN
Emergency Department
UPMC Mercy
Pittsburgh
,
PA
United States

 

 

 

Courtney put a recliner in the doorway and gave her word puzzle books, which she apparently loves to spend hours upon hours doing at her care facility.
Courtney's patient was transferred from UPMC Altoona and had been in the ED waiting for a bed since her trauma workup was complete. The patient was diagnosed with a subdural hematoma after a fall. Her original bed assignment was ICU, she then progressed to a monitored bed and then a regular floor bed, all while in the ED. She was disoriented and tried to get out of bed in the ED, then became very quiet, not interacting. Courtney noticed this, she put a recliner in the doorway and gave her word puzzle books, which she apparently loves to spend hours upon hours doing at her care facility. Courtney was also working with trauma to initiate her discharge from the ED back to her facility. While waiting for transport the patient sat in the recliner very content with the puzzle book and pen. Her family was very grateful. She shares a room with her husband and he has been looking for her. He has dementia and didn't understand where she had gone. The facility was also very grateful and relieved she was coming home. Courtney was caring for 10+ patients- a mix of ED and inpatient- throughout her shift, yet she still recognized that her patient needed to do something familiar to her so as not to decline. This is a great example of outstanding nursing care!