Somewhere between 9p-12a, I told Christine she was an angel. I STILL believe that, and I’ll never forget her. First, a little perspective! I am a critical care nurse and clinical educator with 40+ yrs. of varied experience. I not only “get” the incredible challenges facing my colleagues in Nursing, as well as Medicine, but am a committed, participatory member of my own care team. I am never a demanding patient, but know that ultimately, I must be my own advocate…and thank God I have the training to do so. 

I have been diagnosed with HFpEF due to coronary microvascular dx. I had a surprise NSTEMI two yrs. ago, but my coronary arteries aren’t occluded…it seems the problem lies in the dysfx/inflammation of all the tiny arterial vessels. In addition to that not being well understood, and treatment for HFpEF sorely lacking, I am a bit of a unicorn in that I have a normal BMI, no diabetes, don’t smoke, am very active, etc., etc. But now, difficulty with SOB upon exertion, chest pain, and abnormal heart rhythms. 

Long story short, in December I reluctantly drove myself to the LF ED. I was struggling to breathe conversationally and could hardly walk due to dizziness and SOB. They immediately attended to me and finally admitted me to the 3rd floor. Fast forward to the evening. I started to feel “off”, get chest pain, felt worsening SOB, and could feel that my heart rhythm was irregular. It was the AM-PM shift change so I hesitated to alert the day nurse, but things were getting worse, so I did. The nurse felt I was simply “anxious” and offered a small dose of Xanax. I firmly reiterated my sps, and then was offered Tylenol, told that the doctors had left for the day, etc. Upon leaving she introduced Christine, and all I was thinking was “Thank God” and praying I could communicate with her. 

I needn’t have worried. Having listened to my concerns upon intro, Christine came back quickly to assess me as I explained my hx and how I was feeling. She stood quietly and actively listened to all my concerns. I don’t have the exact timing of all the following events, but in tandem, my temp began to increase, my BP went down to 79/, and I was in bigeminy. I wasn’t perfusing well, so increasingly SOB with chest pain. Christine thought to take a manual pulse, which was low 40, while the monitor recorded (due to all my abnormal beats) was ~118. 

The clinical picture was confounding- what was going on?? I know she had other patients to see and deal with, but I felt as though she never left my side. She took frequent manual BPs to be sure they were accurate, turned on the bedside monitor so she could observe my rhythm, was in constant communication with the telemetry monitoring people upstairs, and was on text and phone with the cardiology team. She updated me quickly with any new info. The cardiac team decided I needed to restart a beta blocker, but we were concerned due to my low BP and HR. 

The team said to go for it, and we did, but not before she put a hand on my shoulder saying, “I’m right here, we’ve got the PA watching the monitor upstairs, I can get back up quickly, and I think you’re going to be ok”. I trusted her and felt we were a team. A tense experience for both of us. Things eventually stabilized later that night. She tried to let me sleep the remainder, but I saw her peeking in frequently to check on me. She gave a very complete report to the new AM nurse, who too was very professional, efficient, and empathetic moving forward.

Christine portrays, in my opinion, the epitome of the “art and science” of nursing. Without a doubt, all of her patients receive the same professional skill and experience, calm focus, efficiency, empathy, problem-solving, quick thinking, and just plain kindness and goodness that I did. It’s clear she loves her job and she said so…not always the case in today's hospital environments, as we all well know. I’ve had the opportunity (and honor) to train many nurses over the years and she has a quality that is hard to define. My surgeon brother, who has long trained residents, calls it “magic”. I agree. Christine is special. And to me, she is indeed an angel!

Note: This is Christine's 2nd DAISY Award!