Veronica Zamoyski
July 2010
Veronica
Zamoyski
,
RN
Medical Surgery
Homestead Hospital
Homestead
,
FL
United States

 

 

 

Veronica had a patient who the day before had a liver biopsy done at BCVI. On this day, the patient was stable, vital signs were within normal limits, and the patient had not verbalized any complaints. The Doctor came in that day and reviewed the patient's condition and was considering discharging the patient. Veronica then gathered the paperwork to possibly discharge the patient and call transportation to pick up the patient. Then she went in to further evaluate discharging of the patient. Only this time, the patient just didn't look right to her. She decided to take his vitals and noted the blood pressure was only 70/40. Veronica noticed the patient's breathing was shallow and the patient was very weak. And the patient was not at ease about being discharged. Very concerned for the patient, Veronica made the doctor aware of the patient's status and requested for the patient to stop being discharged. The Doctor then decided to re-evaluate the discharge of the patient.

Veronica then returned to the patient, but her critical thinking and gut feelings continued to tell her that something was not right with the patient. She voiced her concerns once more to the Doctor and insisted that the patient be looked at. Adamantly discussing the patient's status with the Doctor, the Doctor decided not to discharge the patent. Labs and a Chest X-Ray were ordered that night and the patient's H&H were critically low. The next day, a CCT was done and the patient was found to be internally bleeding. The patient ended going to the ICU.

Veronica was an advocate for this patient. This patient could have easily been discharged and further consequences would have occurred, but she kept on insisting that something wasn't right. She ended saving the patient's life.