NINTH FLOOR – Nurse Jenny Holcomb is starting to be very concerned about her postoperative back patient who is starting to experience apnea 16 times a minute. “I don’t know what to do, he just stops breathing, like all the time. Eventually he will take a breath, but then stops, then breathes. Like 14 to 16 times every minute It’s scary.” Luckily for the patient his nurse is being very vigilant next to the bedside, sitting on the edge of her chair, waiting to intervene. “I have called a rapid response to the room and have paged the surgeon 2-3 times today and nobody is concerned as I am.” Sources say she is feeling a lot better after giving 3 mg of Dilaudid. Patient’s apnea is occurring less and less. “His apnea count has decreased from 14 times a minute to about 2 times a minute. I think it’s a good time to go on break.” She even expressed concern she was experiencing apnea as often as the patient, until she hyperventilated to decrease her episodes, unfortunately she passed out.
