July 2013
Billy
Pace
,
RN
Telemetry
Lane Regional Medical Center
Zachary
,
LA
United States

 

 

 

I nominate Billy Pace, RN for the DAISY Award for her extraordinary care she provided to a patient who was admitted to Lane RMC with multiple diagnoses. He had a procedure which showed that he had gastritis and a hiatal hernia. When he returned back to the unit after his procedure, he became nauseated and vomited. Billie called the physician's nurse to inform her of the patient's condition. The nurse returned the phone call with an order for nausea medication; however Billie was determined that something was not right and asked to speak with the physician. She explained the patient's condition again and noted that her gut told her something was not right with the patient. The physician ordered an EKG which showed the patient was having an acute MI. Within a few minutes the Cardiology team was notified. The patient received a stent for a 90% blockage.

It would have been very easy for any nurse to down play the situation or overlook the patient's symptoms. Billie was persistent about getting an EKG and her gut feeling. If she would have waited to see if the patient's nausea resolved the patient may have very well died.



Billie clearly showed extraordinary clinical skills and compassion/caring to her patient this day. She made a connection with this family that can never be broken. No doubt that Billie is a patient advocate everyday that she works and she definitely demonstrated this on that day. We are lucky to have her as a part of our team.