On Tuesday, a patient was rapidly decompensating just as shift change had happened. This is a dangerous time for such an occurrence because nurses and aides are very busy, so on a Neurology floor like ours, a patient's subtle change in mental status may go unnoticed, making for a very dangerous situation.
Being the caring and compassionate nurse that she is, Tamara went into the patient's room to visit him right after she received a report in the morning just out of her own, natural goodheartedness. Thankfully, she went to see the patient for a casual visit, knowing how sick he was. Tamara immediately noticed that the patient did not look like himself, and she conducted several neurological checks rapidly. Noticing that something was definitely wrong with the patient, Tamara's 10 years of nursing instincts kicked in and she did not hesitate to call a Rapid Response. The doctors and rest of the team covering the patient responded very quickly and ultimately got the patient into the Operating Room.
The resident told me that if another 15 minutes had passed without anyone coming to visit the patient, which might have happened on another day or if Tamara had not been this patient's nurse the prior day, then he would have probably died. This easily could have happened since the mornings are extremely busy with the report being given and a multitude of other responsibilities needed to be taken care of. Tamara was almost like a guardian angel in this case. This is just one example of her being an amazing nurse!