Navy nurse honored for research efforts for pediatric trauma care
Cdr. Emily Latimer, an emergency clinical nurse specialist, was recently awarded the Defense Health Agency Nursing Award for Evidence-Based Practice. Latimer spearheaded an evidence-based practice project to examine methods for administering blood specifically to pediatric trauma patients.
According to Latimer, giving blood to a pediatric patient requires a different volume amount, specific needles or a smaller IV which means that blood systems used for adult patients don’t always transition well for a child. Latimer said she was inspired to pursue this project by past cases of critically ill children.
“In a military treatment facility, a huge portion of our patients are pediatrics. For example, at our emergency department here, 25% of our patients are pediatrics. Being able to provide the care and, hopefully, be a source of trust and stability for their families – that’s taking care of our military community,” said Latimer.
Latimer and her team were able to procure grant funding to purchase a manual blood infusion system for pediatric trauma patients. From there, nurses and paramedics were able to test the system over a period of weeks. Findings showed that a system designed for administering blood to pediatric patients was easier and faster for the users and should be a component trauma centers consider obtaining to ensure pediatric readiness capabilities.
“Our job is to take care of vulnerable patients, and if we’re finding ways to make improvements, we are doing our job to make things better for our patients,” said Latimer. “Ultimately, if we are getting recognized for this work, that means the work we are doing is meaningful. It gives us an opportunity and a venue to share what we learned, so that maybe other people can implement similar solutions.”
As Latimer points out, research on pediatric care is vital to the readiness component of military medicine.
“As much as our deployment training is focused on preparing to receive adult patients, in many deployed settings, we do take care of sick kids. Having the skills, the comfort, and the experience with sick children in a military treatment facility prepares our healthcare workers for deployment medicine,” explains Latimer.
Latimer was also awarded the “Pediatric Readiness Improvement Award” through the Emergency Nurses Association, recognizing Latimer’s work on the blood project and other improvements for critically ill pediatric patients such as medication and safety audits. However, Latimer does not take credit for the accolades, instead proudly attributing the success to her research team.
“So much of this was a group effort. I feel really lucky that I was able to work with people that have such expertise and care and were willing to take time out of their day-to-day tasks to spend time dedicated to these projects.”
Latimer, a native of Lake Charles, Louisiana, is in her 16th year of Naval service. She will soon embark on her next journey as the department head for Corpsman Trauma Training Cleveland, Ohio with the University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center.
Naval Medical Center Camp Lejeune has provided dedicated, passionate care for warfighters and beneficiaries at Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune for more than 80 years. Attached to the medical center is NMRTC Camp Lejeune, the readiness platform for active-duty Navy Medicine personnel.
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