Allison Gardner
April 2025
Allison
Gardner
,
BSN, RN, CCRN-CMC
CICU
ECU Health Medical Center
Greenville
,
NC
United States

 

 

 

After her shift, Allison drove to the airport to retrieve the mother's luggage and brought it back to the hospital. Allison's actions are a true representation of her character and devotion to providing holistic care to the patient and their families.
Allison is an ICU nurse and an RN ECMO specialist in the Cardiac Intensive Care Unit at ECU Health Medical Center. There was a very critically ill young adult patient in the CICU who was on life support known as Extra Corporeal Membrane Oxygenation (ECMO) for an extended period of time. Allison was an ECMO specialist for the patient and offered emotional support not only to the patient but to the family as well. She spent her time as the ECMO specialist and had knowledge about the physiology of ECMO, advocating for the patient and working hard to mobilize, improve, and go above and beyond for the best interest of the patient. She participated daily in interdisciplinary rounds, advocating and expressing ideas to improve the patient's prognosis. The patient's mother traveled from outside the country to be with her loved one. Her luggage was lost en route to the hospital. Five days later, Allison discovered the mother's luggage had not arrived or been located. Allison called around the airlines and airports in North Carolina to locate the luggage. She was able to help the mother communicate with the airlines to file a report and get the luggage flown to the local airport near the hospital. After her shift, Allison drove to the airport to retrieve the mother's luggage and brought it back to the hospital. Allison's actions are a true representation of her character and devotion to providing holistic care to the patient and their families. This is just one example of how Allison went above and beyond for this patient.