Jessica
Stelmach
October 2013
Jessica
Stelmach
,
BSN, RN-BC
Cardiac - Electrophysiology
Wexner Medical Center at The Ohio State University
Columbus
,
OH
United States
Jessica Stelmach is a nurse on 7 Ross that shows exceptional care for her patients. I will share two stories of her going above and beyond for patient care.
A while back 7 Ross had a patient who was admitted for recurrent ventricular tachycardia and ICD shocks. The patient was extremely anxious every time he went into VT as he had PTSD from the numerous shocks he had received. The team had attempted multiple medications and ablations to control his VT that were unsuccessful; he seemed to only respond to IV Lidocaine. This patient began to have suicidal thoughts due to his medical condition. He was in a constant state of anxiety. The doctors agreed to attempt an epicardial ablation on the patient, which would be risky with all of his comorbidities.
One of the nurses on the unit gave the patient a sculpture of an angel prior to the procedure to comfort him. His procedure was successful! A couple of days later when the patient was getting ready to discharge, he couldn't find his angel. Jess helped him search the room over and over with no luck finding the angel. The patient truly believed that this angel would comfort him through his PTSD and keep him out of VT, and losing the angel put him into tears on the day of discharge. Jess delegated her patients to other nurses for a short time so she could run to the gift shop and get the patient a new angel! He was elated!
This patient came back to the unit 6 months after discharge looking like a new man - and he came to thank several nurses who took care of him, namely the nurses that gave him the angels to look over him. The story gives me goose bumps to tell - I remember seeing the patient in near-code blue conditions on so many occasions and holding his hand and hearing him speak suicidal thoughts and then seeing him when he returned to visit as a happy, healthy man after being cared for by his angels!
...
The second story is of a patient who came to 7 Ross from an outlying hospital after stabilization s/p sudden cardiac arrest. She was in her early 30's. The team was looking into the reason for her arrest and discovered she had very, very poor heart function; her ejection fraction was 10-15%. The patient cried a lot during her stay because of the constant bad news she received regarding her health. She became unmotivated to do anything, including getting out of bed or bathing. She was upset that she couldn't shower since she had to remain on the heart monitor 24/7, and wasn't thrilled to sponge bathe.
One day, when Jessica cared for this patient, the patient asked Jess what kind of perfume she was wearing. Jess responded and told her she got it at Sephora. The patient inquired about the price, and when she heard, she stated she could never afford it. Most nurses would have forgotten about such a mundane conversation, but not Jess. Jess wanted to cheer up her patient in any way possible. After work that day, Jess called Sephora and drove to Easton Town Centre after work and had the sales lady make a couple samples of the perfume for her. She made it to the store less than 5 minutes before it closed! Jess took them in to her patient the next day at work. Her patient was so thankful to feel "normal" again and to smell nice.
It is the little things that some people can take for granted that mean the most to our patients and Jess never forgets about those little aspects of care for her patients.
A while back 7 Ross had a patient who was admitted for recurrent ventricular tachycardia and ICD shocks. The patient was extremely anxious every time he went into VT as he had PTSD from the numerous shocks he had received. The team had attempted multiple medications and ablations to control his VT that were unsuccessful; he seemed to only respond to IV Lidocaine. This patient began to have suicidal thoughts due to his medical condition. He was in a constant state of anxiety. The doctors agreed to attempt an epicardial ablation on the patient, which would be risky with all of his comorbidities.
One of the nurses on the unit gave the patient a sculpture of an angel prior to the procedure to comfort him. His procedure was successful! A couple of days later when the patient was getting ready to discharge, he couldn't find his angel. Jess helped him search the room over and over with no luck finding the angel. The patient truly believed that this angel would comfort him through his PTSD and keep him out of VT, and losing the angel put him into tears on the day of discharge. Jess delegated her patients to other nurses for a short time so she could run to the gift shop and get the patient a new angel! He was elated!
This patient came back to the unit 6 months after discharge looking like a new man - and he came to thank several nurses who took care of him, namely the nurses that gave him the angels to look over him. The story gives me goose bumps to tell - I remember seeing the patient in near-code blue conditions on so many occasions and holding his hand and hearing him speak suicidal thoughts and then seeing him when he returned to visit as a happy, healthy man after being cared for by his angels!
...
The second story is of a patient who came to 7 Ross from an outlying hospital after stabilization s/p sudden cardiac arrest. She was in her early 30's. The team was looking into the reason for her arrest and discovered she had very, very poor heart function; her ejection fraction was 10-15%. The patient cried a lot during her stay because of the constant bad news she received regarding her health. She became unmotivated to do anything, including getting out of bed or bathing. She was upset that she couldn't shower since she had to remain on the heart monitor 24/7, and wasn't thrilled to sponge bathe.
One day, when Jessica cared for this patient, the patient asked Jess what kind of perfume she was wearing. Jess responded and told her she got it at Sephora. The patient inquired about the price, and when she heard, she stated she could never afford it. Most nurses would have forgotten about such a mundane conversation, but not Jess. Jess wanted to cheer up her patient in any way possible. After work that day, Jess called Sephora and drove to Easton Town Centre after work and had the sales lady make a couple samples of the perfume for her. She made it to the store less than 5 minutes before it closed! Jess took them in to her patient the next day at work. Her patient was so thankful to feel "normal" again and to smell nice.
It is the little things that some people can take for granted that mean the most to our patients and Jess never forgets about those little aspects of care for her patients.