Sami and I met at the start of a Friday night shift when we deployed her patient to ECMO. She was the bedside RN and I was the ECMO specialist. Sami had assertive and concise communication throughout the deployment and anticipated the needs of the surgery. After the chaos of the room settled when the patient's procedure had finished, I was able to get to know Sami. She handled the baby with such a gentle touch. She cleaned the newborn up with finesse and care. Sami was then assigned an additional patient even though she had one of the sickest patients in the hospital. She didn't object or complain; she humbly accepted her assignment. Sami was even able to feed her other patients the most they had eaten in days.

On the second night of having the ECMO patient together, we received terrible diagnostic news that the patient had an irreversible condition that required them to come off ECMO. Ultimately this meant that the baby was going to die. The patient's mother had come to the United States only a mere month before. She did not speak English. Sami coordinated interpreter services with the NICU attending. Sami reserved space for the mother to grieve. The patient was decannulated from ECMO and a plan was in place to keep the room peaceful despite the tragic circumstances. The patient's mother did not want to hold her dying child, so Sami held the baby as they died.

Witnessing a nurse hold a patient as they pass is very powerful. She didn't want the baby to die alone. Sami forewent a break both nights I worked with her. She was always offering help to neighbors without being asked. She is an exceptional nurse and an incredible advocate. Her patients and their families are lucky to have her.