Natalie
Kazokas
June 2023
Natalie
Kazokas
,
BSN Student
Jefferson College of Nursing
Philadelphia
,
PA
United States
Natalie played a significant role as a strong advocator who ensured that her patient received appropriate medical attention and proper treatment.
Natalie was caring for a patient who was admitted for a diagnosis of TIA. From the report, Natalie was told the patient was nonverbal and unable to cooperate with care sometimes. During Natalie's assessment, she found out that the patient was not nonverbal. Instead, he was Korean- speaking, and the culture and language barriers created the resistance of care compliance. In her assessment, she also found out the patient had a tremendous amount of pain in the left side of his neck that limited his range of motion, and he also remained guarded towards care staff due to the pain. She also noticed that the patient had a semi-clear margin, quarter size of swelling where the pain was located. Due to the admitting diagnosis, this patient was managed with Heparin drip at the time and Natalie was instructed to monitor for any signs and symptoms of bleeding. Natalie reported her findings to the patient's primary nurse throughout the day and monitored any changes of the affected site closely. She was consistent with her assessment and later noticed that the swelling was advancing with the site started to turn into severe ecchymosis, and the pain had increased unbearably. She advocated for the patient and raised the concern to the primary nurse and the physician. This patient later underwent a diagnostic imaging test and was found to have a 10 x 5cm submuscular bleed and cellulitis at the affected site. The provider then proceeded with discontinuing his heparin drip since this patient was later determined not to have TIA, and he was started on antibiotics for cellulitis. In this case, Natalie played a significant role as a strong advocator who ensured that her patient received appropriate medical attention and proper treatment. Due to the language barrier, miscommunication often occurs in our daily practice which can lead to mistreatment or undertreatment. Seeing Natalie carry out her nonbiased and professional bedside manner, as well as using her nursing judgement and decision-making skills, it is promising that she will continue to deliver a high quality of nursing care. I would like to nominate Natalie for the JCN Student DAISY Award for her nursing professionalism and patient advocacy.