Recently, I was a patient on the Family Maternity floor, as I was in labor with our first child, a sweet baby girl. Audra was my labor nurse and I'm not sure how I would have made it through the birth of our daughter without her as my nurse. My plan going into labor was to not receive an epidural, but as my contractions became stronger, closer together, and almost unbearable Audra encouraged me through. She said she would support me in whatever decision I made and help me get through the pain. She got an exercise ball, ran a warm bath in the jacuzzi tub, encouraged me to walk the halls, used pressure points on my back, and several other positions, but I just couldn't tolerate the pain any longer. I felt like I was going to lose my mind and at times I'm sure I was a difficult patient to put up with as I was experiencing the worst pain of my life. Audra stayed calm, she used encouraging words and did not push me to get an epidural. She was there to support me in whatever decision I made. She and my husband calmed my fears about getting an epidural and she was with me through the whole process. Audra is so compassionate about the care she delivers to her patients, I got to experience it firsthand.
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Words cannot express the comfort and knowledge that Audra brought to my husband and I during the birth of our first child. I had a very overwhelming fear of the whole birthing process throughout my pregnancy but the second she walked into our room, she brought such an easy, safe, and warm presence. I can speak for hours on her kindness and compassion she showed but she was also incredibly knowledgeable in her field. She answered all of my silly questions and never once made it seem like I was asking the wrong things or that my fears were unnecessary. You could feel the love she had for her job and the confidence she had in any situation. She helped my husband learn when contractions were about to start and when to tell me to start pushing which made him feel like he was doing something to help me during the birthing process. My normal OB wasn't there and Audra's shift was over while I was still pushing. Instead of switching to a new nurse mid-delivery, she stayed well past when she could have gone home because she knew I was scared. That to me meant more than I can put into words. After everything was done, she came back to make sure we were okay before she went home. The next day, she came in and made sure she was my post-delivery nurse the next day. For new parents, this could be such a scary and hard time, but with a nurse like Audra, it makes a everything okay. Your hospital is very lucky to have her on staff.