June 2024
Patricia
Witzke
,
BSN, RN, CAPA
PACU
Northwestern Medicine Lake Forest Hospital
Lake Forest
,
IL
United States
Had Patty not spoken up, the patient would have been at high risk for complications after her orthopedic surgery.
Patty noticed the patient’s left leg was more swollen than the other side in the preoperative area and alerted me. This resulted in the patient getting a stat duplex, which revealed a DVT in the proximal vasculature. We then got the patient and IVC filter and postponed the hip surgery. Had she not spoken up, the patient would have been at high risk for complications after her orthopedic surgery. Thank you, Patricia!