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2017 Health Care Champions Nurse: Lana Garcia

CoxHealth

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Lana Garcia encounters numerous patients every day, but one she helped more than a year ago still sticks out in her mind.

The CoxHealth nurse received a call from a co-worker requesting she come to the hospital to deliver forensic care.

“I remember the nurse telling me to ‘school my face’ when I went into the room,” Garcia says. “I have worked a huge part of my nursing career in a level-one trauma center, and I have seen horrific things, and not heard this from anyone. That said, I knew it was bad.”
 
Garcia was right. The patient was nearly beaten to death after being held hostage by her spouse for days in their home.

“There were more injuries and bruises than there was uninjured tissue,” Garcia says. “I spent almost six hours of one-on-one care with her.”

Garcia documented the woman’s story, took pictures of her injuries and collected any other evidence she could to help the woman find justice and the self-worth that was taken from her.

“I will never, ever forget the way this patient’s eyes shown with thankfulness,” Garcia says. “Blue eyes, so stark against two huge black eyes and horrific swelling.”

When Garcia later met with the detective working on the woman’s case, he anticipated the abusive spouse would be sent to prison for the rest of his life. And it was the nurse’s forensic and evidentiary support that helped determine his sentence.

Garcia graduated from Cox College with an associate degree in nursing in 2008. In 2009, she began her career as a CoxHealth nurse for women and newborns. Later, she worked in various areas, such as the emergency room and endoscopy, and earned her bachelor’s degree in nursing in 2014. Today, Garcia continues to work for CoxHealth as an urgent care nurse and is currently practicing as a sexual assault nurse examiner, more commonly known as a SANE.

“I am responsible for the care and treatment of all sexual assault victims presented to CoxHealth during my on-call shifts, and have come in many times when an additional SANE was needed,” she says. “I also teach other RNs how to utilize these forensic skills with patients beyond sexual assault, including child abuse and trauma.”

Maintaining such responsibilities might seem daunting, but as a nurse, it’s Garcia’s mission to lend a helping hand. She also refers patients to The Victim Center Inc., which provides free-of-charge crisis counseling to victims of violent crimes.

 “I have helped the mother, whose daughter was raped, find guidance and assistance through the wonderful staff of The Victim Center,” Garcia says. “Crimes like that affect patients and their families, and nurses have to be aware of that.”

Garcia interacts with patients of every background, education level and socioeconomic status, she says, and treats them all with the same kindness.

“Many of these people are fighting struggles most people wouldn’t even believe,” she says. “I always stress the importance of really talking to your patient.”

Without asking enough questions, Garcia says, you can continue to treat a patient, but you may never know the real cause of their need for care.

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