Patient’s 'life saved' by quick-thinking UHDB nurse
A patient’s routine pre-operative assessment quickly turned into a life-saving cardiology operation to insert a pacemaker, thanks to the quick-thinking and diligence of a UHDB nurse.
Steve Paxton had recently been on holiday, on a ‘road trip’ through France and Spain, and came back to the UK only four days prior to a pre-operative assessment for a routine hernia operation.
During the assessment, Nurse Janet Gray noticed ‘unusual’ readings on an ECG machine, which records the rhythm, rate and electrical activity of a patient’s heart – where Steve’s heart rate was reading as 21 beats per minute.
However, Janet suspected the extremely low readings were not a technical fault, and were in fact, accurate. She rushed Steve to Coronary Care in A&E – where her concerns were found to be correct, with the diagnosis of third-degree heart blockage, and an operation to insert a pacemaker required immediately.
“I felt a bit ill, but nothing alarming”, Steve said, “it was just a normal day, and a normal appointment before a routine operation.
“Never did I think I needed the level of care that I ended up receiving that night. After the first ‘unusual’ reading, the team used a new machine, which gave the same reading – but Janet was very concerned.
“She told me to sit down, and not to go anywhere, while she made several urgent phone calls to make sure that the right people got to see me immediately. It was incredible.
“She didn’t want me to move a muscle until she could get me in a wheelchair and whisk me over to A&E to see somebody – which she did. She knew that I was very close to a cardiac arrest – and that it wasn’t the machine that wasn’t right, it was me!”
Thanks to Janet’s quick thinking and actions, Steve was promptly admitted for his procedure, and has heaped praise on Janet and the team for their decisive intervention.
He said: “I am so incredibly lucky. Only a few days earlier, I could have been in the middle of nowhere in Europe, so I am feeling very fortunate to have been in the care of Janet and the NHS when this happened. I am so grateful for the NHS and its amazing members of staff like Janet who would not rest until I was given the care that I needed, which included being fitted with a pacemaker.
“I have had to use NHS services a fair bit recently – treatment to remove kidney stones, a knee replacement in April, and of course this operation – but I could not fault any of it whatsoever.
“The simple fact of the matter is that I might not be here right now if it wasn’t for Janet and the NHS. She may well have saved my life.”
Steve was so grateful that he decided to return to RDH’s Surgical Pre-Operative Assessment department where Janet is based, with a box of chocolates and a thank you card for Janet.
Janet was delighted to see Steve return, saying: “I could have burst into tears, I was just so happy to see him. I’m very happy that he’s now okay and we have a positive outcome.
“Before working in pre-operative assessment, I worked as an ICU nurse, so I recognised quite quickly that he needed the most urgent attention. As a very active man – Steve likes to run especially – his heart rate would typically be slower than average, but certainly not as slow as his ECG was reading, which was very concerning.
“I had no choice but to spring into action, using my past experience and skills – all while making sure he remained calm, as stress could have worsened the situation.
“I whisked him over to ICU, and showed my colleagues his ECG results and they saw, like I did, that he needed urgent intervention. As we often do, across departments, colleagues worked together as a team at a moment’s notice to deliver the care that Steve needed.
“It is nice to know that I’ve still ‘got it in me’ – and to see him come back to the hospital with the card and some chocolates was a great boost for me. I’m just doing my job, and I’ve been treating patients for 40 years - but moments like this remind me that I am making a difference and I can still make a difference every day.”
Steve said that returning to see Janet was the least he could do, continuing: “I don’t have the words to do justice to how lucky I feel, and how grateful I am. Thank you Janet, and everyone working at A&E and RDH – and thank you, NHS!”