Bianca Dankers, RN

Bianca Dankers was my nurse for my cardiac ablation. She was also helped by M, as needed. The whole team in the recovery area worked so well together.

I was an easy, young, healthy patient on paper but ended up having some complications with recovering from the anesthesia. It started with oxygen levels dipping while I was resting. Bianca was on top of it and put the nasal oxygen back on. Once I passed that hurdle, M sat me up on the side of the bed. I moved next to a chair to assess how I was doing. Having passed that hurdle, M brought me some juice and cottage cheese. As I was eating, I started to feel weak, and then I quickly felt flushed and nauseous. M came in as this was happening and immediately called for help, and I was moved with assistance back to the bed and had my feet elevated. My blood pressure had dipped.

Bianca returned and took over. She checked on me multiple times, joked with us, and made me and my wife feel at ease. We then attempted the side of the bed and chair again and had the same reaction. At this point, I was starting to get worried that something was wrong. Bianca was reassuring and called for the appropriate next steps. A cardiac physician assistant arrived to check on me, and an Echo was ordered.

Throughout this whole process, Bianca was checking and making sure I was comfortable and calm. The physician assistant was very reassuring and through experience said it may be a reaction to the anesthesia since everything else, including the Echo, looked great.

Bianca helped me through the remaining process of recovery, sitting on the bed, then onto the chair, and all the time checking on me and my progress. I never felt neglected or alone.

The whole cardiac team was amazing, and I commend all of them. I was just lucky that I got Bianca as my assigned nurse, and I am thankful for her and her coworkers’ diligent care.