Martha Noel

Olga, the nurse I worked with for two cycles, was extremely rushed every single time I spoke with her, and I grew to dread calls with her as I was always stressed after getting off of them. She shared unnecessary information that created additional stress, like telling me that there was going to be a lot of competition for transfer appointments in a certain timeframe. She also sometimes gave unclear instructions and was defensive about it when I asked for clarification on details (i.e. telling me to use estrogen patches at a certain time of day, and then when I asked a related question, telling me that she never told me that and giving a long explanation for how I couldn't possibly have heard what I heard). This same issue happened on both cycles, and I was careful in taking notes from our calls, so it was extremely frustrating to both have poor information and to then have her argue with me when I asked a non-confrontational question. Unlike a previous experience at another clinic, I never felt actual emotional support from the nursing staff at UCSF. When calling with a negative pregnancy test result, they clearly have been trained to say some of the right things, but it felt like a script. When I didn't want to schedule an embryo transfer for the day before one of my biggest work days of the year, and was feeling pressured by the nurse, she didn't show any understanding of my wanting to take my work commitments into consideration and by the end of the call, I was crying, frustrated, and anxious about the choices I'd made very quickly about scheduling such an important procedure. Thuy, Dr. Noel's coordinator, is a bit scattered and required a lot of follow-up to get my labs straight, as she would request labs she had received again, and fail to notice other missing labs. She also often seemed rushed, but was kind and responsive.

Care coordinator: Thuy - she is very responsive and helpful with getting all of the paperwork and necessary appointments set up. Very organized. Main nurse: Olga - she is very organized and is the main point of contact for updates. Very efficient and explains processes well. Can sometimes be curt but don’t think she means it negatively. General nursing team: all wonderful, well-informed, professional and kind.

I worked with Thuy, Olga, and Gianna. Both nurses and coordinator were excellent and extremely helpful. I could tell that they were very busy and usually rushed in their answers, but they were effective and efficient. The bills, paperwork, and email security was the most annoying part of the process, which indicates how well UCSF runs the medical aspects.

Olga was good. After a rough start initially (lacking some bedside manner / awareness of our case's history), I came to really like her and found her quite accessible and helpful.

Olga is amazing too! We've been so lucky. She often gets an email from me then picks up the phone to call me to chat about my question. She likes to plan my cycle in detail ahead of time (just like me!), she's very kind and personably, like Dr. Noel, good at the serious stuff but is also quick to laugh with you. She commiserates in a totally appropriate way, and I always feel like she is on top of things and totally has my back.

So far she has been excellent with communication, really quick to respond to emails and phone calls. She has been efficient and concise.

Nursing staff was excellent. The women at the front desk could not have been nicer and everyone we worked with was great. Even if when they were quiet, they were extremely respectful.