Sara Denton is an exemplary nurse who I have had the honor of working with for over a year. She goes above and beyond daily including really getting to know her patients and is instrumental in providing good, comprehensive care to our patients. Our veterans love her personality and her passion for preventative care has significantly increased the percentage of our patients who are up to date on their vaccines. I would like to highlight just one example of how Sara used the I CARE principles.
She was walking out to call back our next patient and she saw a different patient of ours in the waiting room looking pale and sweaty. She immediately went to check on the veteran, who is in his mid 40s, and he reported that he started having chest pain this morning when coming in to get blood work drawn. He was resting before leaving. She immediately recognized that the patient needed emergent care and brought him down to the ER for full evaluation. It turned out he had a 99% occlusion of his LAD, a widowmaker. Sara saved that young veteran's life that day because she was vigilant, knew her patients well enough to tell when something was wrong and she acted accordingly- taking the time to personally bring him down to the ER to make sure he got the care he needed. I am honored to be able to work with such an amazing nurse.