Crystal is the perfect picture of a teammate and an outstanding nurse. While another RN was in the OR with a patient who was hemorrhaging, Crystal never left my side with the exception of getting blood products. She placed orders as needed, pulled or administered Methergine, Pitocin, Diluadid, called NICU, and was essentially the other “primary” nurse in a chaotic time. I have never questioned if something was done if she was with me. No nurse should feel alone in emergency situations and Crystal always remained by my side when needed. If an emergency cesarean section was called, Crystal was literally running to call the pharmacy for pre-op antibiotics and other meds as needed, calling anesthesia and the OB techs, and helping to haul the huge bed with the nervous mom to the OR. She never had to be asked to assist; she just jumped in with the belief that every patient is also her patient. That’s what makes a team work.

Crystal truly believes that the moms and babies deserve a calm and memorable experience. She always watches the monitor and if fetal heart tones are down in any room, she assists in turning the patient, giving a bolus, and has never hesitated when it comes to calling doctors for others. During all of these times, she typically had her own patients but did not leave them unattended or neglected. Crystal has been able to do the job of 2 nurses with 4 pregnant moms (that’s 8 patients essentially) and she does so without complaining.

Patients’ wants and needs are quickly forgotten in the maternity field. Crystal advocates for her patients and the babies who do not yet have a voice to not have procedures when they are not needed or desired but will calmly educate an anxiety-ridden mother if actions need to take place. I would give specific events but there are too many. Too many fetal demises that she attended and consoled the parents. Too many patients on the brink of actual death but she make quick decisions and acted accordingly. Anything else would cause trauma to the patient and the baby inevitably. Crystal leads her patients in a calm, confident, and empathetic manner that I hope to someday be able to replicate in any area as a nurse. She is truly one of a kind and the most amazing co-worker that I have had the pleasure of working beside.