May 2024
Katie
Pink
,
RN, OSBN
ED
St. Charles Health System Bend
Bend
,
OR
United States
Katie burst into action to stabilize the patient before the patient regained consciousness and proceeded to run down her list of protocols, delegating tasks and recording events. Her ability to jump into a leadership role without pause or hesitation was considerably remarkable.
Katie embodies what it means to be an exceptional nurse. Her fervent application of clinical knowledge honed with her compassion and patience are a pairing Florence Nightingale herself would envy. While precepting with Katie for the last four months, there are countless examples I could give that highlight her excellence, however one in particular stands out. During one of our first shifts together, we had an incredibly busy assignment. There was one particularly high acuity patient that showcased just how lucky I was to have Katie as my mentor. This particular patient’s heart, without indication from the chief complaint, simply stopped beating for a ten second period. Katie burst into action to stabilize the patient before the patient regained consciousness and proceeded to run down her list of protocols, delegating tasks and recording events. Her ability to jump into a leadership role without pause or hesitation was considerably remarkable. These 10-15 second asystolic episodes happened 2 more times while the patient was in our care, each of which was expertly handled by Katie with empathy, up to date evidence based knowledge, and awareness of hospital protocol. The patient had vomited multiple times after regaining consciousness, and Katie never neglected the little things like offering water to swish out the patient’s mouth after each emesis episode and going out of her way to educate the pt on what was happening to them. Katie’s documentation on this patient and proceeding episodes of cardiac pause were thorough and painted the event accurately and objectively within the patient chart. She sat with the patient and their visitor to ensure that all of their questions were addressed to give them a better understanding of what the next steps were in the hospitalization process. Katie did all of this with a preceptee nurse and three other high-acuity patients on an already slammed day. I continue to be impressed with Katie’s humility, knowledge, and coolness under pressure. It is my honor to submit her name for this prestigious award as she continues to perform outstanding patient care within our community. Thank you.