{"id":8204,"date":"2024-06-24T14:30:00","date_gmt":"2024-06-24T14:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/?p=8204"},"modified":"2024-06-24T14:30:00","modified_gmt":"2024-06-24T14:30:00","slug":"in-his-darkest-moment-a-nurse-saved-his-life","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/?p=8204","title":{"rendered":"In his \u201cdarkest moment,\u201d a nurse saved his life"},"content":{"rendered":"

Originally published:<\/strong> 2024-06-24T14:30:00+00:00. Historical source article: benefits, rules, amounts and deadlines may have changed. Check the official source for current information.<\/p>\n

Who knew it would be his patient\u2019s darkest moment?<\/p>\n

It was a typical Thursday afternoon routine. This was nothing new for a seasoned registered nurse working on the surgical intensive care unit. Especially someone like Andrew George (pictured above).\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Nashville native had been performing this routine since he started as a health tech at Tennessee Valley VA<\/a> in 2009.\u00a0By 2014, George had worked his way up from a health tech to a licensed practical nurse and finally to a\u00a0registered nurse with clinical certifications. \u00a0<\/p>\n

The hallways of the surgical intensive care unit at Nashville VA pulsed with life and bustled with energy as nurses gently woke their patients\u00a0to prepare them for upcoming procedures. \u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cBefore surgery, you have to give your patients a morning shower,\u201d George said. \u201cI got his stuff ready, walked him down to the unit\u2019s shower and he came back to his bed. Maybe like five minutes later he says, \u2018Man, my chest is starting to hurt a little bit.\u2019\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Electrocardiogram signals were elevated<\/h2>\n

George\u2019s patient, Veteran Neil Byalick, was in for a cardiac procedure, scheduled for an hour later.\u00a0George explained to Byalick that he probably exerted himself too much walking down the hall and to take a\u00a0few minutes to catch his breath.<\/p>\n

While George attached Byalick to the bed side monitor to evaluate his vital signs, he noticed intermittent heart rhythm changes on the monitor.<\/p>\n

Byalick was still experiencing chest pain, so George grabbed an electrocardiogram to evaluate the electrical signals of the heart. He saw his patient\u2019s ST segments were elevated, indicating a myocardial infarction\u2014a heart attack. George alerted the overnight physician and the surgical intensive care unit staff of the emergent situation.<\/p>\n

George remained calm and quickly administered nitroglycerin to thwart the pain and cardiac episode\u00a0before bringing\u00a0Byalick to the catheterization\u00a0lab for further diagnostic imaging and treatment. \u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cHe was kinda scared at that time. I pretty much stuck with him the whole time,\u201d George recalled.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Because of his actions, George prevented the heart attack from progressing and ultimately saved the Veteran\u2019s life. Had it not been for George, Byalick may have died on the operating table that morning.<\/p>\n

Patient nominated him for DAISY Award<\/h2>\n

Byalick believed the Nashville native deserved more recognition for his efforts, so he nominated George for the DAISY Award, an international award given to nurses, nurse leaders and nursing teams who provide compassionate, above-and-beyond health care to a patient, patient\u2019s family and visitors.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI started to have severe problems not knowing what was happening to me. George came to my rescue and pulled me from my darkest moment,\u201d Byalick wrote in the DAISY Award nomination. \u201cHis calmness and great skills helped me stay calm and know that I was going to be okay.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

George recalled feeling shocked and surprised by the award and was even more delighted to see Byalick among the crowd of nurses and doctors. He felt the efforts were a result of cross-functional team collaboration. \u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s nice to get an award when you\u2019re just working and doing your everyday routine. It\u2019s very encouraging to stick with it. I\u2019m very fortunate and I really like VA,\u201d George said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Byalick wrote a statement that resembles the very core\u00a0of why many individuals like Andrew George choose to enter and remain in the health care profession: \u201cI truly believe that Andrew is why I\u2019m here today.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n

Source: U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs<\/a>. Its Veterans is an independent publication and is not affiliated with or endorsed by the U.S. government.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A VA nurse saves a Veteran\u2019s life during the Veteran\u2019s darkest moment.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":318,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8204","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-u-s-veterans-news"],"yoast_head":"\nIn his \u201cdarkest moment,\u201d a nurse saved his life - Its Veterans<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"A VA nurse saves a Veteran\u2019s life during the Veteran\u2019s darkest moment.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/itsveterans.com\/?p=8204\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"In his \u201cdarkest moment,\u201d a nurse saved his life - 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