December 27, 2021

Born in the PACU

Clinical Partners, Rural Health

A first-time expectant mother arrived at the hospital in Long Prairie on a recent Friday night. If it was a typical day, this wouldn’t be an issue. But there are no typical days during a pandemic. All 12 hospital beds were filled, the ER rooms were full, and they were boarding ER patients, too.

So the team in Long Prairie starting making calls – first to St. Cloud Hospital. No beds were available. The next calls were to other regional hospitals, but the result was the same – no beds.

Quick Thinking

Just as they were trying to figure out where to deliver this baby, charge nurse Colleen Parteka, RN, got a call from Cyndie Zinniel, RN, charge nurse in Sauk Centre. She had some good news. While they didn’t have the staffing to accept the OB patient, they could accept two other patients to make room in Long Prairie for the delivery.

Sauk Centre had some good news. They didn’t have staffing to accept the OB patient, but they could accept two other patients to make room in Long Prairie for the delivery.

Parteka knew the Sauk Centre team was also busy, so she was very grateful. But just when they started to assess which patients they might transfer, their OB patient’s labor started to progress rapidly, and the baby’s heart rate began to drop. 

Then the baby’s heart rate began to drop.

It was time for a new plan.

They started to get the team in place to perform a C-section, but then the baby stabilized, so in a moment of quick thinking, the team decided to deliver the baby in the PACU (Post-Anesthesia Care Unit). “We previously hadn’t thought about using this area for a space to deliver a baby,” said Jodi Hillmer, director of patient care in Long Prairie. “It’s this kind of independent thinking that makes me so proud of our team,” she said. 

The team decided to deliver the baby in the PACU.

Everything went smoothly, for mother and baby. “Our nurses joked that this mama and baby will forever have a story about being born in the middle of a pandemic, not knowing where the birth would actually happen,” said Hillmer.

But for Hillmer, what’s most memorable is the innovative thinking and regional collaboration.

A Pandemic Positive

“The pandemic has prompted everyone to think differently,” said Hillmer. “There’s a necessary confidence that our team has in making quick decisions and this is a perfect example of that.” Hillmer is quick to give credit to nurse manager Stephanie Albers for her leadership, and the nurses working that evening: Colleen Parteka, Lisa Tyler, Rachel Anderson and Sandy VanNorman.

We didn’t partner this way before, but now it’s clear we’re all on one bigger team.

And even though they didn’t end up utilizing help from their colleagues in Sauk Centre that night, just knowing they were willing meant the world. “This type of collaboration between our western region partners is something positive that’s come from the pandemic,” added Hillmer. “We didn’t partner in this way before – mainly because we didn’t need to – but now it’s clear we’re all on one bigger team.”

Returning the Favor

Just two days later, everything came full circle when the call for help came into Long Prairie from Sauk Centre.

The Sauk Centre team was looking to transfer two patients, and Long Prairie was there to return the favor. “We were very busy, but we had two beds open so we accepted those patients,” said Hillmer. “We knew how the team there was feeling in that situation because two days earlier, it was us in that predicament. It felt really good to help them out.”