University of Mary Senior Nursing Students Help Elderly Person on Airplane

BISMARCK, ND — Senior nursing students Gracie Zottnick and Josh Sipes were over 30,大约在他们从奥兰多飞回俾斯麦的三个半小时忠诚号航班的中途. 两人在圣诞假期被邀请和他的家人一起去迪斯尼乐园玩一周, Universal Studios, and some R&在MG冰球突破试玩护理学校的最后一个学期开始之前，他们在海滩上休息. Not experiencing enough wizardry in Florida at Harry Potter World, 两人紧挨着坐在机舱前部，《MG冰球突破试玩》的神奇声音从降噪耳机里传出来, as they watched contently on their iPhone. At this point, 不管他们看了多少遍，要想打断他们最喜欢的电影，都需要很大的麻烦. 

“An announcement sounded overhead,” recalled Sipes. “I couldn’t really hear it over my movie, so I did not think much of it right away. 我妈妈看了看我们俩，说:‘他们在过道那边找医务人员.’ After this, 我们都注意到，有几个空乘人员正拎着氧气罐沿着过道走向一位年长的女士. So, we took out our headphones, looked at each other, and asked, ‘you ready?’ and then headed down in that direction. I would say she was about 10-12 aisles away from us. 当我们到达那个女人身边时，我们注意到她已经失去了意识，所以我们的第一反应是担心. 当我们赶到现场时，有一位呼吸治疗师正在给病人提供氧气. Another registered nurse (RN) responded as well shortly after we got there.”

“She was extremely pale and slumped in her seat,” said Zottnick. “我们的第一反应是开始询问发生了什么事，以了解导致她失去知觉的一些背景信息. Josh and I both helped to assess her levels of consciousness and take her vitals. 我们俩都帮助呼吸治疗师管理氧气，并在氧气罐空了时更换氧气罐. 当这位女士开始恢复意识时，我还帮助她喝了一些橙汁，因为我们认为她是低血糖，因为她在飞行前一天没有吃早餐或午餐.” 

According to Zottnick an Sipes, 飞行员一直与空乘人员保持联系，并评估这位70岁老妇人的情况, what led to the situation, and any underlying conditions she may have had. 空乘人员正在记录佐特尼克和赛普斯的生命体征，并给他们送补给, like blood pressure cuff, stethoscope, oxygen tanks and mask and other equipment as needed. During that time, the passengers were calm and respectful of the situation. Their education and training from University of Mary quickly kicked into high gear.

“I think that the basics of nursing ABCs (airway, breathing, circulation) kicked in when we responded,” said Zottnick. “我们首先检查了她是否能自主呼吸，并评估了她是否有脉搏. 这些本能似乎很自然地发挥作用，这是我们首先评估的事情. At first, I was a bit in shock that this situation was taking place on our flight. I've never really experienced something like that on a plane before. Additionally, it seemed kind of crazy to me to be responding to this situation. 这让我意识到，在我能独立照顾病人之前，我只剩下一个学期的学业了. 它提醒我，即使在最意想不到的情况下，在最意想不到的环境中，帮助别人也是我的工作.” 

“It felt like an immediate adrenaline rush and like a switch flipped,” added Sipes. “我想，当我帮助她的时候，我脑子里的主要想法是‘我们现在能做些什么来保证这个女人的安全?“我认为我们所做的一切都是为了病人的安全，尽我们所能让她免受伤害. We monitored her blood pressure, pain level, heart rate, and respirations every 15 minutes. Overall, we stayed with her for an hour-and-a-half. 我们将调查结果反馈给了空乘人员，他们在到达后为EMS保存了一份运行文件. 我们还帮助为病人提供氧气，并在她醒来后询问她是否知道自己在哪里? What month it was? What the date was? Who was the president? 我们还询问了她的丈夫是否有健康问题，试图了解她的健康史背景. 在这之后，我们给她橙汁和氧气，直到她的意识水平改善，她的生命体征恢复到正常范围.”

Sipes, Zottnick, 其他医疗志愿者一直陪伴着这名妇女，直到飞机降落在俾斯麦，随后紧急医疗服务人员将她抬到轮椅上，并将她推入机场.

“机组人员在头顶上发布了公告，并感谢‘医疗团队’对医疗紧急情况的反应. As we were walking back to our seats, people were clapping, patting us on our backs, and telling us thank you for doing what we do,” said Sipes.

Given their quick reaction time and thorough teamwork nursing the patient, fellow passengers probably thought Sipes and Zottnick were a married couple. Nope. It was their love for helping others that brought them together for the first time. Sipes had a tumor removed from his hand at Mayo Clinic when he was a senior in high school. 他受到的同情使他想以同样的方式帮助别人，成为一名护士. Zottnick’s grandmother loved being a nurse, 但她最大的灵感来自于看着护士照顾她的弟弟，他出生后在新生儿重症监护室呆了六个星期.

“Josh and I met the second semester of my sophomore year in nursing school at Mary,” remembers Zottnick. “Funny enough, we attended the same high school (Century in Bismarck), but never crossed paths until nursing school. Josh and I have been dating a little over a year.” 

After graduating in April and getting more experience, Zottnick wouldn’t mind being a traveling nurse so she can see other places, and Sipes could see himself working in the intensive care unit (ICU). But before they can get further into their nursing careers, 他们需要在毕业后立即通过NCLEX -全国委员会执照考试. 在2020年4月至2021年5月期间首次参加NCLEX考试的Mary护理毕业生中，100%通过了考试, ranking it the No. 1 program in the country for the second time in three years by Mountain Measurement in 2021. 鉴于他们在飞机上为这位老妇人提供了出色的医疗服务, Zottnick and Sipes should feel confident passing the NCLEX with flying colors.

Anyone who wishes to learn more about any undergraduate or graduate programs can do so at hfowrg.313661.com, or online.313661.com, respectively, or by contacting an admissions representative at enroll@313661.com, or by calling (701) 355-8030. MG冰球突破试玩是美国仅有的15所推荐的红衣主教纽曼社会住宿学院和大学之一.

About the University of Mary: MG冰球突破试玩秉承“生命之光”的校训，通过尖端的专业课程和研究生课程为学生提供全面的人生教育，这些课程以道德勇气和所选专业的领导能力以及对社区的服务为动力. A private, co-educational Catholic institution, the University of Mary welcomes students of all faiths and backgrounds.

A Christian, Catholic, 本笃会的机构成立于1959年，由本笃会修女报喜修道院, Mary offers nearly 60 bachelor’s, 15 master’s, and five doctoral programs—in Business Administration, Education, Nursing Practice, Occupational Therapy and Physical Therapy. 在全国大学体育协会(NCAA)和美国大学曲棍球协会(ACHA)会议的管理下，19个体育项目的体育部门坚持其美德伟大的使命. With more than 3,800 students, Mary has locations in North Dakota, Montana, Arizona, Rome, Italy, as well as vibrant online offerings. For more information, visit hfowrg.313661.com.