Compassionate care can be demonstrated most by asking individuals (patients, families, and staff) who have been through hardship. So many Behavioral Health patients and families have faced a hardship of some sort and Brian acknowledges that and helps show a ray of light. Sometimes with positivity, sometimes listening, but always by being engaged. Patients and families know when talking to him that he cares for the problems at hand, past problems, and fear of problems yet to come. He somehow develops hope and that is a necessity when it comes to mental health. Additionally, Brian’s care goes beyond patients and families. He knows every staff member by name, and knows when they are going through toils personally and professionally is a shoulder to lean on. Brian reaches out to offer support and includes others in order to build a support team to meet their needs both at work and at home. Brian’s care for patients is geared toward the patient as well as the family. He is knowledgeable about diagnoses, medications, treatment plans, and outpatient care, and is able to share that information in a sensitive manner based on readiness to learn as well as mental fortitude. I have heard Brian explain information at a level appropriate to doctors and providers, then explain the same information to a family with little to no educational background- doing so in a way that they can understand just as clearly as the doctor. His relationship with patients goes beyond a positive bedside manner, they go to him for direction and support. They remember him for days and years after in patient care. He is a wealth of knowledge and has such an ease about him that we all feel comfortable going to him for guidance and support. Brian represents nursing excellence. He works hard in his role to make things better for peers, patients, students, families, and new orientees. He leads with a strong moral compass to follow policies and procedures while doing so with calm and caring compassion. He has a track record for helping to develop strong nurses, educate students, and engage patients and their families while guiding them toward positive outcomes. I have seen him take new staff under his wing and teach them to provide safe quality care that he is accustomed to providing himself. Physicians, leaders, and peers of all levels of care would agree that Brian sets the benchmark that we all strive to achieve.