Sharon McCarthy
February 2017
Sharon
Mccarthy
,
RN
3 West Medical Surgical
Southern New Hampshire Medical Center
Nashua
,
NH
United States

 

 

 

Working on 3 West we fortunately do not come across code situations very often, so when they do our nurses are put to the test and this nurse rocked it. Sharon had a patient that had been declining for days. He was a surgical patient who started withdrawing from alcohol during his stay. She had this patient for multiple shifts in a row and again and again advocated for this patient. She got our unit director involved in addition to the surgeon and hospitalist involved in his care. She felt that he needed additional care and even though she pushed and pushed the patient remained on our unit. During her weekend shift she noticed a change in her patient and within seconds pulled the hospitalist assigned to our floor in to see the patient which immediately led to an RRT. The situation unfortunately deteriorated and turned into a code blue. Sharon remained calm, cool and collected. She provided everyone with the necessary information, stayed by her patient's side and continued to care for the patient she had spent days advocating for. Although the patient did pass, Sharon did an absolutely amazing job. She demonstrated what it means to be a nurse, someone who fights for their patients and continues to fight for their patients no matter what.