I would like to recognize Angela Shane for her unique ability to bring comfort, hope, joy and peace in the midst of a patient's dying experience. KJ was admitted to our services with a peg tube, dying of cancer. He was still in his own home living alone; extremely independent and not too accepting of the idea that he needed any help. Angela gained his trust, and according to his family, she was the only one in the medical profession he ever trusted. She got him to do things he never would for anyone else, like thicken his liquids and let someone else feed the birds outside.
When his symptoms became unmanageable at home he was transferred to the inpatient unit, and even though Angela was no longer his nurse, the family continued to share with everyone that Angela had been their father's light in what could have been a very dark time.