On this day, RN Dante Cantoria received a patient in the Post Anesthesia Care Unit (PACU) after a Bilateral Total Knee Replacement. Dante began a full system's assessment. He was unable to palpate pedal pulse on the patient.
He immediately responded by rushing to find the Doppler to further assess. His nursing instinct told him he needed immediate intervention. He reached out to his peers to confirm his instinct that his patient's circulation was at risk for a severe complication of possibly losing a limb. Still, no pulses were found, he then proceeded to call the surgeon to notify his findings. The surgeon came to the bedside and confirmed Dante's assessment. The patient returned to surgery to restore circulation of the limb.
The accurate nursing assessment and the persistence of Dante seeking treatment truly saved the patient from a catastrophic event.