June 2024
Brooke
Garcia
,
BSN, RN
LT CICU
Texas Children's Hospital
Houston
,
TX
United States
Brooke recognized changes with my son’s pacemaker, his vital signs, his change in breathing, his change in color, and much more. She promptly contacted the team to report her concerns.
Wow, where do I start? Brooke’s name should be in the dictionary as the definition of dedication, determination, empathy, compassion, and advocacy. The way she fought tooth and nail to figure out what was going on with my son brought me to tears; all while facing backlash from the doctor who was on this specific night. Not only did Brooke demonstrate her clinical knowledge despite pushback and criticism from the doctor, but she also demonstrated extreme compassion for my husband and me during the hardest days of our lives. Brooke recognized changes with my son’s pacemaker, his vital signs, his change in breathing, his change in color, and much more. She promptly contacted the team to report her concerns. During rounds, the doctor insisted my son was fine, that EP was aware that his pacemaker wasn’t sensing, and that this issue was his pacemaker “failing to capture.” Brooke insisted that this was a new finding and that my son’s condition had changed. The physician did not like that Brooke was disagreeing with him and became very angry and frustrated with both her and myself. Fast forward 4-5 hours later when Brooke and the EP doctor talked about getting an X-ray because they were both concerned that the pacemaker wasn’t working correctly after troubleshooting all night and come to find out, one of my son's pacemaker leads had dislodged in his heart and he needed surgery just a few short hours later. If it wasn’t for Brooke’s determination to figure out what was going on, who knows what could have happened. I don’t know how I could ever repay her for everything she did for us over the three shifts she had with my son. She deserves all the recognition one could possibly receive.