Robin M Cooke
March 2026
Robin M
Cooke
,
RN
Employee Health
Community Health Ambulatory
Indianapolis
,
IN
United States
Robin was so very supportive throughout this entire process and kept reassuring me that she was going to do whatever she needed in order to get the results back as fast as possible.
I am an RN in the surgery department in the main OR of CHN, and I experienced an accidental needle stick from a dirty needle that had been used to start an IV on a patient. We went through the proper steps of getting blood drawn from the patient and sent to the lab, but I also needed to immediately go to Employee Health in order to get blood work done.
A couple of hours later, the Employee Health department notified my unit manager that the patient's results came back that she showed to be HIV+. I then needed to immediately go back over to Employee Health in order to get more blood work done. It was near the end of the workday, but Robin agreed to stay late so that this blood draw could be conducted in a timely fashion. Robin also informed me that the lab did a rapid test on the patient and that it would need to be sent off to a different lab to confirm the results. She said that I would not get the results for 3-5 business days, so needless to say, I left their office very nervous and concerned.
Robin then called me at around 6:30 pm, well after their office closed, to let me know she had the lab run that test again, just to be sure, as well as to reassure me that with the rapid test and the patient being on chemo, it could be a false positive. She also rushed to get my prescriptions sent to the pharmacy at the hospital so that I could have access to them first thing in the morning. She also sent an email to the claims department for my case at around 7 pm, letting me further know that she stayed even later to work on this. Telling my family that evening about the whole situation was pretty difficult, but we all wanted to stay positive until we received the final results; however, worrying about this over Christmas was going to be hard.
The next day, I went to the pharmacy and started on my antivirals. A few hours later, I got a phone call from Robin telling me that she had made sure to call the lab as soon as she got to work to let them know how important it was to run the patient's bloodwork as soon as possible. She also informed me that they had gotten the results back already (probably due to her persistence), instead of having to wait all those days, and gave me the wonderful news that her HIV+ results were, in fact, negative! It was the best Christmas gift I received!
Robin was so very supportive throughout this entire process and kept reassuring me that she was going to do whatever she needed in order to get the results back as fast as possible. She took the time to walk me through the steps I would have to take if the results did come back positive. Robin truly went above and beyond what was necessary for not just a patient, but for a colleague. I believe if it weren't for her determination, I would have had to wait until after Christmas to get the results back. As nervous as I was waiting, Robin made me feel better that we wouldn't "cross that bridge" until the final results.
Thank you, Robin, for everything you did! You truly are a wonderful nurse who cares about her patients.
A couple of hours later, the Employee Health department notified my unit manager that the patient's results came back that she showed to be HIV+. I then needed to immediately go back over to Employee Health in order to get more blood work done. It was near the end of the workday, but Robin agreed to stay late so that this blood draw could be conducted in a timely fashion. Robin also informed me that the lab did a rapid test on the patient and that it would need to be sent off to a different lab to confirm the results. She said that I would not get the results for 3-5 business days, so needless to say, I left their office very nervous and concerned.
Robin then called me at around 6:30 pm, well after their office closed, to let me know she had the lab run that test again, just to be sure, as well as to reassure me that with the rapid test and the patient being on chemo, it could be a false positive. She also rushed to get my prescriptions sent to the pharmacy at the hospital so that I could have access to them first thing in the morning. She also sent an email to the claims department for my case at around 7 pm, letting me further know that she stayed even later to work on this. Telling my family that evening about the whole situation was pretty difficult, but we all wanted to stay positive until we received the final results; however, worrying about this over Christmas was going to be hard.
The next day, I went to the pharmacy and started on my antivirals. A few hours later, I got a phone call from Robin telling me that she had made sure to call the lab as soon as she got to work to let them know how important it was to run the patient's bloodwork as soon as possible. She also informed me that they had gotten the results back already (probably due to her persistence), instead of having to wait all those days, and gave me the wonderful news that her HIV+ results were, in fact, negative! It was the best Christmas gift I received!
Robin was so very supportive throughout this entire process and kept reassuring me that she was going to do whatever she needed in order to get the results back as fast as possible. She took the time to walk me through the steps I would have to take if the results did come back positive. Robin truly went above and beyond what was necessary for not just a patient, but for a colleague. I believe if it weren't for her determination, I would have had to wait until after Christmas to get the results back. As nervous as I was waiting, Robin made me feel better that we wouldn't "cross that bridge" until the final results.
Thank you, Robin, for everything you did! You truly are a wonderful nurse who cares about her patients.