This nurse had a patient who was going to be dc’d, and he had told the dayshift supervisor and this nurse that he could not get a hold of his wife. She was supposed to pick him up. After multiple attempts to reach her, the dayshift supervisor called the Canton PD to initiate a wellness check at their home. After coming into work at 1800, this nurse heard about the situation and picked up where the supervisor had left off due to her shift ending. This nurse called Canton police to see if they had been able to locate the patient’s wife. They called back stating no one was at their home residence. This nurse proceeded to go talk to the patient to get more information. Upon questioning the patient, he knew she was staying somewhere close in a hotel. He thought it was Days Inn. This nurse called the hotel that was in the area, and they had nobody registered by her name. This nurse then again went back to the patient and asked if she could be at another local hotel which he told her he could not remember. The patient then reported to this nurse that his wife had some dementia and has episodes or “spells.” He also reported to this nurse it had gotten worse lately. She promised him she would find his wife. She then sat down with him and started going through all the local hotels until one sounded familiar to him. They then tried the Comfort Inn, as that sounded somewhat familiar to him. This nurse called the one closest to the hospital and found the wife was registered there! She was due to check out the following day. This nurse asked the receptionist to please check her room, as no one had seen or spoken to the patient’s wife. While this nurse was waiting for the hotel to call back, the patient’s sister-in-law called and said she was on her way. Meanwhile, the hotel receptionist went to knock on the door of our patient’s wife, but no one answered until a few minutes later—they heard a voice, but she never came to the hotel door. Per their policy, since she answered, they are not allowed to enter her room. This nurse then called the Gwinnett PD and EMS, and they met her sister-in-law at the hotel. This nurse had been in back-and-forth contact with the patient’s sister-in-law. She was found on the hotel room floor, confused and lethargic. The EMS brought her to NSG ED, where she was admitted with AMS, dehydration, and UTI. If it had not been for the insistence of this nurse to find the patient’s wife and investigate further, the outcome may have been much graver than it was. This patient was very appreciative of the supervisor, but especially that this nurse kept digging for help.

Note: This is Elizabeth's 3rd DAISY Award!