It's taken me a year to write this, but I want to nominate Joann Slater for a DAISY Award. I was 8 days postpartum after giving birth to my daughter. I began bleeding unexpectedly overnight and came to L&D triage at the urging of my midwife out of an abundance of caution. While I was in triage, I met Joann. She immediately put me at ease; it quickly became apparent I would need a D&C as my bleeding picked up, and I was so worried about being able to breastfeed my daughter. Joann helped me pump as they wheeled me to the OR so that my daughter would have milk while I was undergoing the procedure. Once we got to the OR, things got bad quickly as I developed a life-threatening condition called Disseminated Intravascular Coagulation, and my blood could no longer clot. I hemorrhaged uncontrollably and needed a Massive Transfusion Protocol as I hemorrhaged nearly 5 liters of blood.

I am a former trauma nurse and current nurse practitioner, so I knew exactly how bad things had just gotten, which only made things worse for me. In my terror that I might truly die and never see my newborn daughter or toddler son again, Joann was my rock. She distracted me and got me to tell stories about my toddler son, she comforted me when I told her I was scared, she kept me warm, and she kept me calm. Once the bleeding was controlled, I needed arterial embolization in IR. Even though she was a triage nurse that day and her responsibility to me had long since ended, I asked Joann to stay with me in the IR and recovery area, and she did without hesitation. She never left my side for the 9 hours it took to save my life and get me to recover. She turned down multiple offers for a break, never stepping away to eat or drink or even go to the bathroom.

When I got to recovery, I had to lie flat for 6 hours and was still worried about being able to pump milk for my daughter. Joann literally pumped my milk for me as I lay flat on my back and even helped hold my daughter to my breast so she could nurse. I credit her entirely with being able to continue to exclusively breastfeed my daughter even after a hemorrhage, which should have made that impossible. It was incredibly important to me, and she understood that, doing everything possible to make it happen. In the darkest and scariest hours of my life, I will always remember Joann as the light that helped pull me through. I have been a nurse and nurse practitioner for over a decade, and in that time, I have seen the best and the worst of nursing. I can confidently say that Joann is the best nurse and embodies the definition of a DAISY Award nurse. I will always be grateful to her.