My father spent a month either admitted to hospitals or in skilled nursing rehab facility, eventually diagnosed with stage 4 pancreatic cancer with liver during this time. His last hospital stay he was made comfort care only and placed on hospice. Grace Guzman was his nurse and was truly our angel we all needed at the most perfect time. Her patience, gentle nature, compassion, and empathy towards all of us and undivided attention she showed will never be forgotten. His greatest concern was being a burden to those around him and with every apology he said to her anytime he called for help, she kindly reassured him that it was ok... every single time.

As a fellow RN, I know shifts can be extremely demanding, but Grace always let us know that if the priority couldn’t be him that someone would be there to assist and that was always the case. There was a level of trust that we had with her as a caregiver that we had not felt since the beginning of his hospital journey. My father was discharged to home with hospice. Grace had been pulled to a different floor that shift, but came to visit him and say goodbye (not something that she had to do, but did and my dad was so grateful he had the opportunity to say thank you for her time, her care and keeping him comfortable in his last days). We were able to have my dad home for one day before he passed away in the early morning. My mother, sister, and I are so thankful and appreciative of the fact that he had a nurse with a heart of gold caring for him in the most difficult time of his life. The organization should be proud to have Grace as part of their nursing team. She is a true example of what this award signifies.