September 2010
Sandy
Jones
,
RN, BSN, CMSRN
3South
Homestead Hospital
Homestead
,
FL
United States
Sandy identified a newly admitted patient as possibly having a compartment syndrome of her right arm and being in septic shock. She quickly identified the seriousness of this patient's condition and called a Code Rescue, while comforting the patient's husband. She commanded attention and had her team working in unison. Shannon Sperry, RN drafted Mark Hernandez, MD and Alfredo Melgar, MD into service on this late Good Friday afternoon. They willingly came, managed the patient's transfer to Critical Care and called in the hand surgeon on a STAT consult. Surgeon Ramiro Perez, MD was by the bedside within minutes of the patient being transferred to Critical Care. Later that evening, Dr. Perez perfomed surgery to relieve the compartment syndrome and also debrided the patient's wound. When I followed up with the patient's husband, he had tears in his eyes and said that Dr. Perez told him if his wife's situation had gone on much longer, she would have lost her arm and possibly her life. He thanked God for Sandy Jones, RN. I could not agree more.