Lindsey Smith
November 2024
Lindsey
Smith
,
BSN, RN
STIC
Advocate Christ Medical Center
Oak Lawn
,
IL
United States

 

 

 

Thinking outside the box, she contacted the police and convinced them to follow up. This final lead paid off and led to the discovery of a relative and, ultimately, the patient's mother, who was multiple states away.
Occasionally, we find ourselves caring for patients with unknown identification and without family. This recently occurred on STIC after an accident in the community. Partnering with law enforcement, we were able to obtain the patient's name, but we were unsure how to locate their family. Lindsey had experience as a nurse detective in similar situations. She was not going to leave any stone unturned. Multiple leads were followed up on, but were not successful in helping us find the patient's family. There was one last lead that she followed up on. One of the patient's old contacts was potentially linked to an out-of-state food truck identified on social media. After multiple failed contact attempts, Lindsey realized that the food truck had a location schedule. Thinking outside the box, she contacted the police and convinced them to follow up. This final lead paid off and led to the discovery of a relative and, ultimately, the patient's mother, who was multiple states away. When she was contacted, she immediately traveled to CMC to be reunited with her child. She was incredibly grateful for Lindsey's commitment, support, and top-notch detective work! Lindsey routinely goes above and beyond and is an incredible teammate.