On the one year anniversary of the horrific shooting at Pulse nightclub in Orlando, Florida, Trauma nurse Marisa Kreutzer reflects on her experience providing care for the victims admitted to Orlando Regional Medical Center. A lone gunman killed 49 people and wounded 53 others in an attack inside Pulse, the deadliest mass shooting by a single shooter in United States history. Thirty-five victims were admitted to Orlando Regional Medical Center – all of whom survived.

Nursing runs in Kreutzer’s family and as a big people person with compassion for helping others, she knew that nursing was the right career path for her. Kreutzer never saw herself becoming a trauma nurse, but when she was offered a position in a trauma ICU in South Florida, she immediately fell in love with the fast-paced, adrenaline-filled role and variety of patients that comes with working in trauma.

Kreutzer wasn’t originally scheduled to work the day of the Pulse shooting, but when she woke up and saw it on the news, she did what nurses do – she called her hospital unit. They needed all hands on deck and were thankful she was able to come in and help.

Recalling arriving at the hospital, Kreutzer says the amount of media surrounding the area was overwhelming. She was forced to take a detour around the police presence to get to the hospital and walked into a chaotic unit. However, Kreutzer also felt that the unit had gained some level of control by the time she arrived, and felt that her unit was prepared for the situation.

“In terms of preparation, I felt we were as prepared as we could be,” Kreutzer said. “We do practice mass casualty drills often. So we had the training and had the knowledge, but I had no idea what to expect when I walked in. I felt like we were prepared as much as possible; I just don’t think there’s anything, though, at least from the emotional standpoint that could prepare you for this.”

Dealing with her first patient is still vivid in Kreutzer’s mind. She jumped in to help with a patient coming back from an operating room who already had several nurses and physicians tending to them. However, the patient stands out because it was her first one that day and she became the primary nurse caring for the patient the next day. Her patient had sustained multiple abdominal and multi-organ injuries and was operated on several times in a 24-hour period.

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That first day, Kreutzer remained at the hospital until about 7:30 pm. In the chaotic trauma unit, she was able to go into nursing mode and deal with the issue at hand, but once she got into her car to head home for the evening she experienced a flood of emotions that had been held back all day. She also experienced an overwhelming euphoria for the patient victories that the trauma unit had achieved.

Now a year later, Kreutzer reflects on the aftermath of the events of that day and the impact it left on her and her colleagues.

I did not find it easy to move on,” Kreutzer acknowledged. “Even after the road by the club wasn’t blocked off anymore – like I said, I drive past that to and from work every day that I go in – it took me a long time just to be able to drive past the club without getting tears in my eyes.”

Despite the suffering she witnessed, the experience as a whole has reaffirmed that trauma is the right nursing focus for her. In the midst of tragedy, Kreutzer and her team on the trauma unit found strength and compassion, and came together to help their patients survive and begin the recovery process.

For more information, visit the American Association of Critical-Care Nurses (AACN) Q&A with Marisa Kreuzer.

Christina Morgan
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