I wanted to nominate Hannah Humpherys for the DAISY Award because she showed constant compassion and professionalism during my delivery of my daughter. I was induced for almost 36 hours before my daughter made her appearance. During that stay, Hannah was my nurse for two overnight shifts for around 24 hours. I can’t remember if I shared this with her, but before I decided to get pregnant, I was unsure if I ever would have children because I was terrified about all the things that could go wrong during labor and delivery. I shared my concerns that I was nervous and anxious because I didn't know what to expect, and Hannah explained everything to me in detail about what she was doing and what to expect from the stages of the induction process. I felt completely safe and in good hands the entire time Hannah was my nurse. When I realized that I would be staying for another night shift and I knew that Hannah was coming back on I was so relieved because no matter how painful everything had begun to get, I knew she would do whatever to make it as comfortable as possible. I knew that even during those hard times, she was there cheering me on.

When she came back on shift that second night there were issues with my epidural, and some medical staff explained that I would still feel pressure. At this point, it was not pressure, but it was pain from my contractions as if the epidural wasn't working. Hannah took the time to figure out what was going on by listening and had a nurse anesthetist in my room very quickly to get the epidural working correctly. It was a complete 180, and I was so appreciative of her dedication to do everything in her power to get out of as much pain as possible. Later during the evening, my back labor had taken a turn for the worse, and I truly didn’t know how much longer I could take it after hours during the night, when I couldn’t get relief. She had taken it upon herself to move me into a position that would help my daughter shift and get me out of back labor. I was able to actually get a little rest, and sure enough, her advice got my daughter repositioned, and back labor had stopped. During the worst of it, I had told her, “Hannah, I don’t know if I can do this,” and she immediately comforted and encouraged me. Again, I never felt safer and more listened to than when I had Hannah in my corner. Unfortunately, her shift ended about an hour before my daughter was born, so she wasn’t there to deliver her. But the next evening she ended up being on call for a short time. She came into my room when she had a moment to say hi and meet my daughter. That spoke volumes to me that she had made time to come in and check on us the next day. 

One of the biggest things that was impressive to me was that she shared she had only been a nurse for about a year, and not even a labor and delivery nurse the entire time. She was very knowledgeable and even if she didn’t know something, she made sure she found the answer or had someone who knew the answer come help. I never felt she left me uncared for, actually quite the opposite. Her bedside manner was so refreshing and impressed myself, my husband and my mom. If she is this caring and detail-oriented with her patients, she has a bright and successful future as a labor and delivery nurse. I can only hope that when my husband and I have a second child, Hannah is still working and on shift when I go into labor.