The CVICU can be a frightening place for patients in our unit. One RN stands above the rest: Carol. Carol always provides exceptional and compassionate care. Patients and families love having Carol as their nurse because of her fierce advocacy yet kind demeanor. Colleagues appreciate Carol as their “neighbor” or “float” because she’s hard-working and consistently exhibits teamwork while keeping her positive attitude. She often has very physiologically complex and unstable patients who require multiple life-saving devices but she always keeps a calm energy and transmits this calmness to the family while educating them in a way where they can understand the plan of care.

Carol has precepted many new nurses. One day, mid-morning when a fresh heart transplant became asystolic, Carol was able to stay calm and was able to teach her preceptee what he needed to do to provide excellent care keeping his patient alive. In the chaos of attempting to revive the patient, Carol swiftly instructed her preceptee to attach his epicardial wires to the temporary pacemaker and press the emergency “DOO” button; this immediately brought the patient’s pulse back. Giving her preceptee the support he needed, she helped him prioritize post-code interventions -- maintaining an airway, titrating drips, drawing labs, obtaining EEG, etc. She taught in a way that was informative and empowering.

Carol not only communicated effectively with the primary team but also constructively with her preceptee, allowing him to act quickly. Since Carol was calm but direct, her preceptee did not hesitate in his actions and expressed he now knows how to respond effectively in future codes. Most importantly, Carol prioritized updating the family at the bedside in a way that the patient’s wife would understand while allowing time for her to share concerns and anxieties. With her compassionate care moment with the wife and building rapport and trust, Carol set an amazing example for her preceptee. Throughout the day, I’d overhear Carol educating her preceptee on best practices during codes and the rationale behind interventions. Being prepared for emergent situations is paramount and her preceptee felt more comfortable in managing that care after their many educational discussions.

Had Carol not been that patient’s primary RN, he may have had a different outcome. Her astute assessment skills and quick response are just a few qualities that make Carol an outstanding CVICU RN. These qualities, along with her bedside manner and ability to respectfully collaborate with interdisciplinary teams saved her patient. She did this all while teaching a new nurse! In, addition Carol is a fierce patient advocate.

Recently she coordinated a complex transport to the Cancer Center for a patient on ECMO and multiple drips. The patient was very unstable, and many ICU nurses would have been reluctant to transport a high-risk patient that far from ICU. However, the patient needed radiation to shrink the tumor pressing on his heart. Knowing this, Carol coordinated with transport, the ICU team, perfusion, RT, pharmacy, and transfusion services. Thanks to Carol’s expert foresight and attention to detail, the transport process to the Cancer Center was uneventful for the patient and they got the therapy they needed. Our whole team is lucky to have a nurse like Carol.