My mother was in the ICU for six days, and Kody was her nurse for three of them. She had a brain aneurysm and went on to change many people's lives by being an organ donor. I'm sure my family was a lot, she had seven kids, their spouses, our father, and countless others constantly circulating to her bedside.

The 20-plus people who made their way through the ICU every day came out saying the same thing: "Kody is such an awesome nurse." The moment he stepped through the door, he worked to make my mom more comfortable. Within minutes of walking in, he addressed her heart rate that had run 140s, her temp of 38, adjusted her fentanyl drip to make her more comfortable, repositioned her, and called RT to evaluate vent settings, two days in a row.

Aside from his great nursing judgment which obviously made my mother more comfortable based on her vitals, he also couldn't have been kinder to our family. He went above and beyond for us. He gave us continual updates, asked every person if they needed anything, asked how we were doing, told us how sorry he was that we were going through this, and listened when we needed to talk.

Kody even made arrangements for us to hold a ceremony in the ICU for her granddaughter to get married at her bedside because she wanted her grandma to be there. I am an ED nurse, and I know that I can't make each person "my person," or it would destroy me. I felt like Kody did, though. I'm pretty sure he is the most empathetic nurse I've ever met. He couldn't have taken better care of my mother and made my family feel so supported.

This was the worst week of our lives, and there were so few things to be thankful for, but Kody was one of them. Please give that guy some cinnamon rolls, and tell him how much his care means to us. MMC is blessed to have him, and we were blessed by his amazing care.