I was admitted to Ascension Columbia St. Mary’s Ozaukee on Friday for a cardiac cath. After my cardiac cath procedure, I was given an inflatable bracelet to wear which applied pressure to the artery on my wrist. The nurse who was assigned to my recovery room was named Christine. She was very personable, and we got to know each other while I was being monitored. At 230PM I was discharged, as I started getting dressed the inflatable bracelet came off.

Only 5-10 minutes had passed since my bracelet came off. As I looked down at my wrist, I was shocked to see blood gushing onto the floor. I called the nurses across the hall for help. I didn’t faint but I was not expecting to see all the blood on the floor and on my clothes. Several nurses ran into the room and applied pressure to my artery to stop the bleeding until they could put on another inflatable bracelet. My blood pressure then dropped and my fingers started to turn blue. Christine quickly reacted, along with several other nurses. Christine reached out to my doctor, who immediately came to assess the situation. I felt like Christine genuinely cared about me as a person. She warmed up each of my blue fingers and kept checking on how I was doing. Christine wasn’t just reacting to the medical situation that unfolded in front of her eyes, but she also cared about me as a person. This happened on a Friday, she could have gone home at the end of her shift, instead, she stayed with me until I was discharged a second time later that night.