"Grace under fire." Those were the words uttered by one of our newest members of the Emergency Department leadership team when he observed Ola Yost working at the Patient Flow Coordinator desk during a code triage. This was no surprise to me as I have worked for years as Ola's charge nurse in the ED. Ola epitomizes the unofficial credo of the emergency nurse, "Go anywhere, anytime, and do anything" and she does this with calmness, purpose, and an exceptional depth of knowledge.

Ola has been a registered nurse in the ED for a number of years, honing her skills to become one of the best trauma nurses in the department. Both kind and skilled, she is loved and respected by her coworkers. I frequently utilize Ola as the designated trauma nurse in the ED. There is one day in particular that I wish to highlight.

One very busy day there was an elderly man that had come in by ambulance and it soon became apparent that he was dying. This was to be, and he had arrived with documentation to confirm his Do Not Resuscitate status. The RN assigned to the patient had suffered a recent death in her family and found it too difficult to care for the patient at that time so Ola, our trauma nurse that day, stepped in to care for the patient. She supported him by holding his hand as she sat at his bedside, speaking softly to him, and reassuring him as he drifted closer to death. I checked on Ola periodically as numerous critical patients began to come in. She would ordinarily be all over those patients, ensuring they received the best of care. But not this day. This day Ola looked at me and smiled when I asked her if she would be available soon, shaking her head gently and looking at that elderly man as he lay dying. No words were necessary.

She told me later that she knew her place that day as he had no one else, no family was to arrive, he would otherwise die alone. This would not do, not for Ola. I had other nurses that day, and they took good care of the other critical patients. The ED will always carry on. The elderly man died shortly after I spoke with Ola in that room. He died peacefully while Ola held him and gently spoke to him. That day I gained a tremendous amount of respect for Ola and her ability to know just where she belonged at that very moment. Ola has since joined the leadership ranks in the ED as a relief charge nurse, raising the bar of excellence for her team and helping to perfect the new Provider at Triage concept. I can think of no one better to lead the next generation of nurses into the future at Salem Health.