Wade Lauritzen
March 2022
Wade
Lauritzen
,
RN
Emergency Services
Olympic Medical Center
Port Angeles
,
WA
United States
Wade stayed calm and yet was able to get everything done in a timely fashion, so we had information that was needed to get the care that my daughter needed.
I am an employee at Olympic Medical Center, but for this story, my daughter was a patient. My daughter has an extensive medical history for at the time only being 6 months old. We brought her in for seizures, but due to underlying conditions, she was decompensating. She wasn’t breathing right, she was limp in my arms when I brought her in. We were brought right back and met Wade in the emergency room hallway. When he said he was going to be the nurse, I handed him my daughter in a moment of complete terror for my daughter’s life. Wade calmly, and efficiently got her in the room, where he started her IV. My daughter has always been a hard start and it had caused us a lot of stress in the past, but Wade did amazing! They hooked her up to fluids and pushed them as fast as they could, because her blood pressure was dropping dangerously low for a small one. Within an hour and a half they had contacted Seattle Children’s neurology and endocrinology. Life Flight was called and she was en route to a higher level of care. Wade stayed calm and yet was able to get everything done in a timely fashion, so we had information that was needed to get the care that my daughter needed. In short, I can NOT say enough positive things about Wade, in between taking care of my daughter, he was constantly making sure that I was ok as well and letting me know everything that was happening, why, what it meant, and what they were looking for. I thank God that Wade was our nurse that day!
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In November 2021 my father was admitted to the ER. In the time of COVID, being present in the room isn’t allowed, increasing anxiety for family, and increasing the importance and value of communication from staff. Wade was the nurse helping my father in those initial hours, when there were far more questions than answers. Without describing medical details, he listened carefully to concerns and information, and helped communicate those concerns to the provider team in a way that resulted in meaningfully more effective medical diagnosis and care. He was compassionate, clear, and highly competent and I was thankful he was on the job, at that time and in that place.
***
In November 2021 my father was admitted to the ER. In the time of COVID, being present in the room isn’t allowed, increasing anxiety for family, and increasing the importance and value of communication from staff. Wade was the nurse helping my father in those initial hours, when there were far more questions than answers. Without describing medical details, he listened carefully to concerns and information, and helped communicate those concerns to the provider team in a way that resulted in meaningfully more effective medical diagnosis and care. He was compassionate, clear, and highly competent and I was thankful he was on the job, at that time and in that place.