August 2023
Savannah E
Roberts
,
RN
Labor and Delivery
Carilion Roanoke Memorial Hospital
Roanoke
,
VA
United States
Savannah astutely noted that perhaps it was stressful to the patient to not be able to comfort her baby.
Savannah and I had a patient who had severe postpartum preeclampsia and was allergic to one of the medications we use to treat this condition. She had a long run of severe blood pressure which was not responding to the other medications that we could use, to the point at which we had used every medication available to us.
The patient's baby was across the room under a lighted blanket for high bilirubin, and Savannah astutely noted that perhaps it was stressful to the patient to not be able to comfort her baby. She moved the baby closer to the patient so she could hold her baby, and her blood pressure nearly immediately decreased to a non-severe range. This greatly impacted the patient's care because the next step would have been to transfer her to a PCU or ICU floor for a continuous drip of blood pressure medications. Great job, Savannah!
The patient's baby was across the room under a lighted blanket for high bilirubin, and Savannah astutely noted that perhaps it was stressful to the patient to not be able to comfort her baby. She moved the baby closer to the patient so she could hold her baby, and her blood pressure nearly immediately decreased to a non-severe range. This greatly impacted the patient's care because the next step would have been to transfer her to a PCU or ICU floor for a continuous drip of blood pressure medications. Great job, Savannah!