April 2019
Elisa
Hepner
,
RN
Labor and Delivery
Research Medical Center
Kansas City
,
MO
United States
My husband and I first encountered Elisa when we were walking the halls of the Research L&D department, desperately trying to get contractions started after PROM. She was not our nurse, but I immediately noticed her friendly and encouraging smile. Later, she came into our room to offer our nurse assistance in correctly positioning a peanut ball and it was clear that she had a level of expertise about the positioning of and its use. She later became our nurse, offering encouragement and distraction when needed and listening carefully to our hopes for the birth. Though very pregnant herself, she helped with the very physical tasks of helping me to move around. After the birth of my daughter, she remained our nurse and thoughtfully sent in food when they were late transporting us to the recovery rooms. As time wore on and we were still not transported and very obviously in need of rest, she arranged for us to be transported anyway and even remained our nurse in the recovery rooms until our nurse could be located. We very much appreciated how thoughtful and empathetic she was in working continuously to ensure that we were well-supported and finally able to rest after several days of a long, hard labor.