Jennifer Denne
May 2023
Jennifer
Denne
,
RN
Outpatient, New Lennox
Ann and Robert H Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago
Chicago
,
IL
United States
One of her strongest skills is her ability to identify patients who need to be seen urgently. On Friday, she was screening clinic for Monday and noted a 14-year-old boy who had a tibial tubercle fracture. She took the initiative to dig a little deeper and found his X-ray report, which identified the fracture to be displaced. She quickly recognized that this likely required surgery and could be associated with complications if not treated promptly.
Jennifer Denne has worked at Lurie Children‘s as a medical assistant over the last several years while having a family and small children at home and went back to school to be an RN. She is presently employed at our New Lenox location and working as our satellite-based RN in orthopedics. Jen has developed excellent assessment and clinical skills. She is proactive and thorough in all of her work. Jen routinely screens all of her clinics ahead of time and while screening noticed the urgency of moving one of the patients up and brought this patient in on a Friday instead of waiting the whole weekend and being seen on Monday. Jen recognized the signs of urgent cast removal and possible compartment syndrome. The patient was seen in clinic and immediately taken to the OR to have surgery. If it was not for Jennifer's assessment skills, this child would’ve waited to be seen until Monday, and the outcome would’ve been very different. It is an honor to work with Jennifer and to see her dedication to her work, patients, and families every day.
***
Jen Denne is a nurse who is capable well beyond expectations. She excels because of her intelligence, hard work, and dedication to patient care. I can think of dozens of examples where she exemplifies the qualities of an extraordinary nurse. However, I will focus on this most recent example.
Jen has a knack for knowing every patient I take care of, even the ones I haven’t seen yet. While keeping track of next week’s clinics, she noticed a new patient added to the schedule earlier in the day, and she independently reviewed their chart. Based on provider notes and radiology reads in Care Everywhere (no images were available for review), she determined that this patient had an urgent issue and should be rescheduled for a same-day appointment with me instead of waiting until next week, as the patient was originally scheduled. This patient had seen two outside orthopedic surgeons and went through our scheduling process and still it was only her that recognized the urgency of the situation. She had the patient added to my schedule that Friday afternoon. The patient had a tibial tubercle fracture, which was not obvious from the radiology reads in the chart, so even more impressive that she was able to catch this. Additionally, the patient was wearing a long leg cast when they came in. When I took it off, it was apparent that he was developing a compartment syndrome. I immediately transferred the patient to the ER and performed a fasciotomy on the patient that afternoon. Today, he is doing well, with no neurological repercussions or muscular ischemia. I am convinced that without Jen’s intervention, this patient would have not done well over the weekend with a long leg cast on and would have been at high risk of permanent disability. I believe this is just the beginning of many accolades Jen will earn throughout her career.
***
Jen Denne started in our Orthopedic clinic at New Lennox Satellite as a Medical Assistant in 2018. She very quickly learned about all the orthopedic conditions that we evaluate and immersed herself in developing education materials and processes to improve our patient flow and assisted with clinic and surgical scheduling. She went back to school and became an RN in 2021 and fortunately we were able to transition her to an RN role. As an RN, she continues to invest her time in learning more about orthopedics, which has expanded her assessments, x-ray understanding, teaching, and triage abilities. Along with her excellent clinical skills, Jen is engaging with patients and their families as well as staff. One of her strongest skills is her ability to identify patients who need to be seen urgently. On Friday, she was screening clinic for Monday and noted a 14-year-old boy who had a tibial tubercle fracture. She took the initiative to dig a little deeper and found his X-ray report, which identified the fracture to be displaced. She quickly recognized that this likely required surgery and could be associated with complications if not treated promptly. She called the patient’s family and arranged for the child to be seen that afternoon. When the patient arrived, it was quickly noted that he had a compartment syndrome (complication related to his tibial tubercle fracture), a surgical emergency. The child underwent surgery that evening and is recovering without complications. If Jen had not been so conscientious in screening clinics, investigating beyond a chief complaint and recognizing conditions which have associated complications, this 14 year old boy likely would have had complications such a significant muscle damage or amputation of his leg. This is just one example of the difference Jen makes for our very busy orthopedic clinics. Jen is a refreshing, engaged, and dedicated DAISY Nurse!
***
Jen Denne is a nurse who is capable well beyond expectations. She excels because of her intelligence, hard work, and dedication to patient care. I can think of dozens of examples where she exemplifies the qualities of an extraordinary nurse. However, I will focus on this most recent example.
Jen has a knack for knowing every patient I take care of, even the ones I haven’t seen yet. While keeping track of next week’s clinics, she noticed a new patient added to the schedule earlier in the day, and she independently reviewed their chart. Based on provider notes and radiology reads in Care Everywhere (no images were available for review), she determined that this patient had an urgent issue and should be rescheduled for a same-day appointment with me instead of waiting until next week, as the patient was originally scheduled. This patient had seen two outside orthopedic surgeons and went through our scheduling process and still it was only her that recognized the urgency of the situation. She had the patient added to my schedule that Friday afternoon. The patient had a tibial tubercle fracture, which was not obvious from the radiology reads in the chart, so even more impressive that she was able to catch this. Additionally, the patient was wearing a long leg cast when they came in. When I took it off, it was apparent that he was developing a compartment syndrome. I immediately transferred the patient to the ER and performed a fasciotomy on the patient that afternoon. Today, he is doing well, with no neurological repercussions or muscular ischemia. I am convinced that without Jen’s intervention, this patient would have not done well over the weekend with a long leg cast on and would have been at high risk of permanent disability. I believe this is just the beginning of many accolades Jen will earn throughout her career.
***
Jen Denne started in our Orthopedic clinic at New Lennox Satellite as a Medical Assistant in 2018. She very quickly learned about all the orthopedic conditions that we evaluate and immersed herself in developing education materials and processes to improve our patient flow and assisted with clinic and surgical scheduling. She went back to school and became an RN in 2021 and fortunately we were able to transition her to an RN role. As an RN, she continues to invest her time in learning more about orthopedics, which has expanded her assessments, x-ray understanding, teaching, and triage abilities. Along with her excellent clinical skills, Jen is engaging with patients and their families as well as staff. One of her strongest skills is her ability to identify patients who need to be seen urgently. On Friday, she was screening clinic for Monday and noted a 14-year-old boy who had a tibial tubercle fracture. She took the initiative to dig a little deeper and found his X-ray report, which identified the fracture to be displaced. She quickly recognized that this likely required surgery and could be associated with complications if not treated promptly. She called the patient’s family and arranged for the child to be seen that afternoon. When the patient arrived, it was quickly noted that he had a compartment syndrome (complication related to his tibial tubercle fracture), a surgical emergency. The child underwent surgery that evening and is recovering without complications. If Jen had not been so conscientious in screening clinics, investigating beyond a chief complaint and recognizing conditions which have associated complications, this 14 year old boy likely would have had complications such a significant muscle damage or amputation of his leg. This is just one example of the difference Jen makes for our very busy orthopedic clinics. Jen is a refreshing, engaged, and dedicated DAISY Nurse!