August 2023
Linda
Hudson
,
RN
MedSurg
EvergreenHealth
Kirkland
,
WA
United States
I am nominating Linda for her astute assessment skills that very well may have saved this patient’s life, as well as his leg.
One of our longtime nurses on 8 Silver was responsible for saving a patient’s limb this weekend. Dr. J performed a laparoscopic cholecystectomy on Friday on a patient whose was baseline not very healthy. Late Friday afternoon Linda called me to say the patient had very severe unilateral leg pain over the last hour. She called with all of the information I needed:
1. She told me the leg wasn’t swollen.
2. Vitals were okay except for tachycardia.
3. Affected leg was cool and clammy while the contralateral leg was warm.
4. She could Doppler pulses on the contralateral leg but not the affected leg.
5. She knew the patient was a smoker and had a history of vascular disease (which required her to do a little digging in the patient’s chart).
I was able to have her order a STAT ultrasound and she communicated with radiology that it was a “real” STAT order and that a limb was threatened. While she did that I was able to coordinate with our hospitalist service and vascular. Together they quickly reviewed the ultrasound, and the patient was taken within a few hours for a fem-fem bypass and thrombectomy. He did great and was released in a couple of days.
***
I am nominating this nurse for her astute assessment skills that very well may have saved this patient’s life, as well as his leg. Linda received a post-op lap chole patient, typical for our unit. Shortly after arriving at 8 Silver, the patient started to complain of left leg pain. After pain medication and a hot pack did not relieve his pain, she gathered more information via an assessment.
The pain was centered in his calf, and he said his left foot felt numb. Linda noted his left leg was mildly cooler and slightly paler than his right leg. She grabbed the doppler machine after she was unable to palpate pulses on his left leg. She was unable to hear them with the Doppler, so she paged the MD. With the hospitalist arriving shortly thereafter and involving vascular, he was emergently taken to the OR for a thrombectomy. The patient was found to have an extensive thrombus. Linda’s quick and thorough assessment along with her speedy follow-up, all while keeping the patient informed and comforted, is the epitome of great nursing care.
1. She told me the leg wasn’t swollen.
2. Vitals were okay except for tachycardia.
3. Affected leg was cool and clammy while the contralateral leg was warm.
4. She could Doppler pulses on the contralateral leg but not the affected leg.
5. She knew the patient was a smoker and had a history of vascular disease (which required her to do a little digging in the patient’s chart).
I was able to have her order a STAT ultrasound and she communicated with radiology that it was a “real” STAT order and that a limb was threatened. While she did that I was able to coordinate with our hospitalist service and vascular. Together they quickly reviewed the ultrasound, and the patient was taken within a few hours for a fem-fem bypass and thrombectomy. He did great and was released in a couple of days.
***
I am nominating this nurse for her astute assessment skills that very well may have saved this patient’s life, as well as his leg. Linda received a post-op lap chole patient, typical for our unit. Shortly after arriving at 8 Silver, the patient started to complain of left leg pain. After pain medication and a hot pack did not relieve his pain, she gathered more information via an assessment.
The pain was centered in his calf, and he said his left foot felt numb. Linda noted his left leg was mildly cooler and slightly paler than his right leg. She grabbed the doppler machine after she was unable to palpate pulses on his left leg. She was unable to hear them with the Doppler, so she paged the MD. With the hospitalist arriving shortly thereafter and involving vascular, he was emergently taken to the OR for a thrombectomy. The patient was found to have an extensive thrombus. Linda’s quick and thorough assessment along with her speedy follow-up, all while keeping the patient informed and comforted, is the epitome of great nursing care.