Congratulations to Maggie Sullivan, winner of the quarterly DAISY Award for Exceptional Nurses at Aspirus Stevens Point Hospital. Maggie is a registered nurse in the hospital’s cardiac rehabilitation department and was nominated by a teammate who wrote:
There was a patient who came into cardiac rehab after bypass surgery and was constantly tired and exhausted. It was thought that her blood pressure medication might be too high and she was sent to the emergency room one day without exercising because she was too tired and constantly lightheaded. Because of her lightheadedness, the patient actually needed stability when walking.
Maggie thought critically and asked about other factors that might be affecting the fatigue. She asked about diet; and the patient was very closely following the cardiac diet we recommend for all cardiac patients, limiting sodium intake to a very low amount. Maggie concluded that the patient may have hyponatremia (too little sodium in her diet) because we generally tell our patients to follow a low sodium diet after their cardiac events. Maggie consulted Ashley, our dietitian, and found that about 20 percent of the population does not tolerate a very low sodium diet well – something our staff was not aware of. After this discussion with the patient, Maggie encouraged her to increase her sodium intake to 1500 mg/day and the patient made a remarkable recovery. She had significantly more energy, was able to walk on a treadmill for 35 minutes, and her mood improved significantly – just 48 hours after increasing sodium intake!! And most importantly, she wasn’t dazed.
This was a great learning point for all of our staff, as some people didn’t like that Maggie recommended MORE sodium for a patient WITH HEART DISEASES! But she was right… as always! She makes this kind of impression on everyone she comes in contact with in cardiac rehab; and it’s why everyone who has gone through the program remembers working with Maggie!
The DAISY Award recognizes the outstanding and exceptional care that nurses provide every day. Our Aspirus DAISY Award winners and nominees exceed the needs and expectations of patients and families by embodying Aspirus’ core values: compassion, accountability, collaboration, vision and joy.
