Chandler Bragg, RN

Chandler was my nurse while I was laboring in L&D overnight. She was incredible, and she quite literally helped save my life. Chandler was wonderful from the very start and built a rapport with us immediately. We got to know each other. We shared our fertility struggle with her and told her our journey of undergoing IVF for over 6 years before conceiving this miracle baby. She knew how much this birth meant to us and how nervous we were about it. She made me feel comfortable and at ease while laboring. She became part of my inner birth support network as she removed my fear and helped me labor beautifully. Then I got an epidural, and things took a turn for the worse. The anesthesiologist had my epidural dose up entirely too high, and it caused my blood pressure to crash. I became extremely hypotensive. Chandler and other staff spent hours chasing my blood pressure, trying to get it to rise and hold properly. I was given multiple doses of "neo," which helped momentarily each time, but my BP just kept dropping back down. At one point my BP was down to 70/40. Chandler really went to bat for me. The anesthesiologist kept insisting that my BP was reading incorrectly, that the BP cuff must be faulty. He insisted that I was doing fine when I, in fact, was not fine at all. I became highly disoriented. My mental state deteriorated quickly. I could not stay awake. I couldn't complete a full sentence. I wasn't "there". Chandler insisted to the anesthesiologist that I was not okay and that something needed to be done. She advocated for me fiercely, telling the anesthesiologist (professionally) that he was incorrect and urging him to reevaluate my dosage. There was a good amount of back and forth, and Chandler did not back down from him. She protected me and looked out for me like I was a member of her own family. She emphatically guarded my well‐being. Ultimately, a different anesthesiologist came in who reduced my epidural dose by over 50%, and my BP stabilized, and I began to return to myself. I credit Chandler with this occurrence. If Chandler had not been as relentless as she was, the outcome could've been very different. I fully believe in my heart that Chandler saved my life. I am still here today (and my miracle baby is still here) because of her incredible skill, professionalism, and compassion as a nurse. She deserves all the accolades available to her. She truly embodies the core values of nursing and is a shining example of what all nurses should aspire to be.