Briana cared for me during labor with my first child. I had gone into spontaneous labor extremely fast and both I and my partner were frantic, nervous and I was in severe pain. Briana immediately took control of the situation and dedicated herself immediately to listening and communicating with me to understand my wishes and needs for birth which was not a simple task as I was in severe contractions every 2-3 minutes from the start.

She prioritized everything that needed to be done and a team of amazing humans assembled around her to fulfill my needs in short order. As my doula arrived, she handed Briana my birth plan and I remember seeing her immediately respond to what was presented on the paper to ensure I had everything I wanted to make me comfortable and feel safe.

As I quickly got to the stages of pushing, I was overwhelmed and not ready. She clearly and concisely instructed me on what was happening and informed me what I needed to do. I was unable to verbally communicate with her, but her extreme skill allowed her to identify what I needed. While that was my experience, what I have found out additionally from my husband and doula was that the entire time she was listening to me, watching my body for non-verbal communication, instructing me, and coordinating all the care and decisions around me, and perfectly tailoring every single one to my needs and preferences. For each and every one of my wishes to have been expertly executed in that short amount of time requires a very deeply passionate person dedicated to their patient, who is highly skilled and willing to go above and beyond to advocate to all the providers and staff involved in my care. I can say I am one of the very few people who had a birth that was expertly tailored to my every need and wish and thanks to Briana was executed safely with no complications and with amazing feelings from everyone in the room.

I was lucky enough to have Briana take the time before her next shift to stop by and check on me – a further testament to her compassion and dedication to her work. Briana deserves to be recognized by her peers and her leadership team at St. Peter’s for being an astounding nurse, team manager, professional, listener, communicator, and overall patient advocate. Briana is the most outstanding, exemplary clinician, I have ever had the pleasure of meeting. Thank you!