UNH student nurse helps save life at hospital

DURHAM, N.H.—A junior nursing student at the University of New Hampshire helped save a patient's life at Exeter Hospital earlier this month.

UNH says Katherine Boucher of Lee was providing direct care to a post-operative patient during her medical-surgical nursing clinical at the hospital. She noticed before the patient did that he was bleeding heavily from his surgical site.

Thinking quickly and acting calmly, Boucher attempted to stop the bleeding with some towels and instructed the patient to keep pressure on the towels before summoning a professional nurse to assist.

Beth Evans, the UNH clinical instructor overseeing Boucher, said the bleeding was so heavy that the patient would likely have gone into shock soon.

The patient, who was returned to surgery to repair the wound, is recovering again in Boucher’s care.