On a very busy night in the ED, shortly after 3 am, an ambulance crew brought in a young woman in active labor. There was a trauma currently ongoing, and the charge nurse had to step off the floor briefly. Amelia and I were in a hallway assignment with our own patients, they had 4 and I had 4 when we got the call from the woman answering our radio that night. She informed us of this inbound ambulance and enlisted help in making sure we either got her to WETU or activated the appropriate resources we needed. Of course, we were willing to help since the other nurses were busy. WETU was called and informed and because of the story, we would have the patient stop and first be checked out by the ED physicians before having EMS bring her over per WETU’s request. An OB doctor had come over, the ED providers were ready, and the delivery kit was obtained and placed in the trauma room. Just prior to arrival, we get a call back from the EMTs who said she delivered in the ambulance. Additional resources were obtained including alerting Pedi to care for the new baby. Once the trauma nurse and charge nurse were back and resources were in place, I returned to the pod, but Amelia ended up staying to help (I told them I would watch their patients).

What we later found out was that this poor new mom was assaulted, and raped and it was an unwanted pregnancy that she had hidden from everyone including her family. Amelia ended up staying with this patient since she arrived and handed over care after personally bringing her over on the stretcher to LDRP. She stayed by her side, listened to her story, cared for her since her arrival to the hospital, and advocated for her during and after. No one else had been aware of the patient's wishes and were not able to consider that she might not want to be around the new baby right now (typically they wait for the baby to be checked before transporting them both over to L&D) and that was clearly not the best option for this patient. Amelia had taken the time to listen to this patient and find this out and then tried to advocate for her. She took charge of the whole situation (not really her job but it was extremely necessary). Amelia spent the next hour making sure this sweet young lady was heard, felt safe and cared for, and that proper resources could be set up moving forward.

Her compassion and care for this young lady may have only taken an hour of time but will have a huge impact on likely one of the biggest moments of the patient’s life. Additionally, Amelia took the time to reach out and make sure the EMS crew who brought the patient in was commended for their sensitivity and compassion for the patient during one of the scariest moments of her life. We need more wonderful, compassionate selfless nurses like Amelia Coles!