As a community hospital, we face challenges and needs on a daily basis. It is our honor to serve an underprivileged community so many times underlooked and underserved. I nominated the Intensive Care Unit not only because it experienced the hardship of COVID firsthand, but also had the honor to witness and entire department come together and not only step in but step up during the worst of it. Not only did we have to, unfortunately, say goodbye to many patients, but also had to comfort, educate and provide resources to many families. We spent so many weeks with COVID patients, so much that we got to know their backgrounds and personalities through their families. They were no longer just our patients, we were family. And as a family, it was incredibly difficult to see them lose their battle and as you may imagine, absolutely heartbreaking placing someone's loved one in a body bag over and over and over. Having to make the dreaded call to families to break the bad news, to serve as a sounding board for families, to give them a safe space to grieve, all at the same time as we continued to intubate, prone, and resuscitate many others.

When we found ourselves short-staffed a few of us stepped in to work extra hours and extra shifts. Several RN's from this department purchased supplies out of their own pocket. Supplies donated by outside sources were shared among everyone and everyone contributed what they could. We welcomed several travel surge nurses and then had to say goodbye. Many, many times we found ourselves resuscitating a patient without success and without time or room to breath or grieve, to immediately admit another.

The ICU team as a whole came together in every COVID wave, when we found ourselves on the borderline of burnout when we felt our minds and hearts could not take any more loss, we were each other's pillars and support. I would to especially highlight the nurse shift managers who remained strong throughout the entire year of 2020. Throughout every difficult challenge, our NSM's went far and beyond to not only care for our patients and their families but also for the bedside care staff. Even when personal hardships were experienced outside, NSM's and every bedside ICU RN still showed up, stepped up, and still cared. I am humbled and proud to be a part of this team and we appreciate your consideration.