Melissa Eudailey, R.N., CCRN, an interim assistant manager, actually started her
nursing career at VUMC the day the Trauma Center opened in 1998. Hired as a new
graduate from nursing school, she was there in her brand new black scrubs the
first night the Trauma Center was opened.
“It was very intense because it seemed like there were hundreds of us in black
scrubs working that night,” she said. “All of the staff who came from 9 North or the SICU were intensively taking care
of our patients, while the rest of us new staff were walking around
open-mouthed and not really knowing what was going on,” Eudailey said. “As new graduates or new staff I don’t think we realized how difficult it was for those people who had already been
here and were experienced to take on a new unit. It was a steep learning curve
and a tumultuous time. But I wouldn‘t change a thing. I‘ll probably be here forever.”
Eudailey’s most memorable patient is Barry, a patient on the Trauma Unit during the very
first year.
“He had terrible injuries. He was a grade-five liver laceration, which is usually
carries a near 100 percent mortality rate. He was in a car wreck. We did
everything we could for him, basically just trying to keep him alive until his
family could get here. We had drips going and everything. It was so hot and
sweaty, and everyone was working as a team. It kind of gives me chills just
thinking about it now.
“We pulled that man back from death,” she said. “It was unbelievable. And he’s now back to work. He’s a vibrant, contributing member of society. He has a wife and five children.
Every year now he comes back with a different T-shirt with sayings like, ’God Bless the Trauma Unit,’ ‘God Bless the Trauma Nurses,’ or ‘I Wouldn‘t be Here Without Vanderbilt.’ He’s a big proponent of what we do here.
“This is the hottest, hardest work I have ever done. This is the hardest, most
intense, most mentally draining, most physically draining job and I wouldn’t change a minute of it. There is nothing in the world like the adrenaline rush
when someone comes back, who turns the corner. There is just nothing like it.”
