I am nominating Ashleigh for her courage in being a patient advocate. Ashleigh was taking care of a fresh postoperative c/s. After the patient had been on the unit for a couple of hours, the patient's family called Ashleigh down to the room. The patient was nauseous, lightheaded, and pale. Ashleigh went and assessed the patient and then called the on-call physician to inform him of the patient's condition and her findings. She then implemented the orders. Ashleigh still had a feeling that something more was going on with the patient, but the patient was stable and responding to the interventions for the moment. She continued to monitor the patient closely. She then informed the night shift of the details. She asked them to keep a close eye on the patient, which they did through the night.

When Ashleigh came back on shift in the morning, some labs were ordered, and the patient needed a blood transfusion. After she got that started, she informed the primary physician of all that had happened. He agreed with what had been done and voiced that the patient seemed fine now. Ashleigh spoke up and told this physician she felt that something else was going on because her condition was changing, and the changes she had seen in her nursing assessment made her suspect internal bleeding. She also voiced that the labs did not correlate with the pt's outward appearance and assessment. The doctor voiced that she could order a CT if she wanted to. I am so thankful that Ashleigh did order the CT because she saved this patient's life. The pt had a significantly large blood clot and two internal bleeders that needed repair. Ashleigh received a high-five safety award for a near miss in this incident. I believe that Ashleigh also deserves a DAISY nomination because she used her nursing education, skills, judgment, and gut to save her patient's life. She also deserves this nomination for her courage to speak up and question the patient's physician, who is a great physician but can be very intimidating and boisterous, and honestly, a tad scary to some. The patient later thanked Ashleigh for saving her life, and as her coworker, I agree with her and honestly believe Ashleigh saved her life that day.