January 2010
Vida
Flora-Roberto
,
RN
PACU
University of Washington Medical Center
Seattle
,
WA
United States

 

 

 

Vida demonstrates continuous advocacy for the patients under her care, both as an individual patient caregiver and as a charge nurse. She is quick to problem-solve and to communicate to her peers. As an example, one day Vida went into the Pre-Op area and happened to walk past a patient waiting to go into surgery. Something about the patient’s EKG caught her eye so she stopped to look at it. Since it looked odd, she did a 12-lead EKG and then stopped a Resident who was walking by and asked him to also look at it. The Resident said the EKG was abnormal and was so bad the patient should not have surgery. Vida called the surgeon and got the procedure canceled. The patient was taken to the Cath Lab where it was discovered that he had major Coronary Vessel Disease. Had he gone to surgery he could have suffered a heart attack and perhaps not survived. I feel that Vida saved this man’s life and this is the kind of work she does on a daily basis. She is a highly skilled practitioner and a true patient advocate!