Heather L Frederick
January 2026
Heather L
Frederick
,
RN
PACU
Premier Health- Miami Valley Hospital
Dayton
,
OH
United States
Even though I wasn’t her assigned patient, her nursing instincts and compassion compelled her to speak up on my behalf.
| I came in for a cerebral angiogram and, during the procedure, experienced intense pressure in my head and lost my ability to communicate my symptoms. Instead of returning to my outpatient area, I was transferred to the PACU. While there, a sweet nurse, Heather, walked by and noticed that I had a facial droop, an inability to move my body, and altered communication. She was professional and respectful of my primary nurse’s role, not wanting to overstep, but she knew something wasn’t right. Even though I wasn’t her assigned patient, her nursing instincts and compassion compelled her to speak up on my behalf. She spoke to my physician and initiated a stroke alert. As a nurse myself, in my altered cognitive state, I remember thinking, “Oh my goodness—that’s awful. A stroke alert… for who?” I didn’t realize at the time that the patient was me. Because of Heather’s quick thinking and advocacy, my care team expedited critical interventions, including an MRI, TNK administration, and transfer to the Neuro ICU. I quickly became extremely tired, disoriented, and unable to move my body. The hours that followed were some of the most frightening of my life, and I distinctly remember wondering, “Is this what people feel like right before they code?” After several days in the ICU, I slowly began to regain things like my vision, my appetite, and my dark medical humor, and thought, “Okay, we might make it through this.” I spent a week on SE11/10 before transferring to inpatient rehab. I’ve since been discharged home for outpatient therapy, and although my recovery feels slow, I’m incredibly proud of how far I’ve come. I can’t help but wonder how different my outcome might have been if Heather hadn’t spoken up when she did. Would I still be able to even consider returning to my role as a bedside nurse if intervention had been delayed? How different might my recovery and quality of life have looked? To further demonstrate her exceptional compassion, Heather later took the time to visit me in my room to check on my progress and say hello—something I often do for my own patients. She exemplifies everything nursing should be: skilled, intuitive, compassionate, and brave enough to speak up when it matters most. She is truly an extraordinary nurse and an even more wonderful person. |