July 2026 Honoree
Sofia Sparger, RN, BSN, CCRN
Sofia is a nurse with a passion for bereavement care in the Cardiac Intensive Care Unit (CICU) and has made a significant difference in the lives (and deaths) of many families over the years. She has been the Co-Chair on the Bereavement Care Team since 2021, and she is a well-known Life Link Resource Nurse. She has made many meaningful connections with bereaved families during her nursing career in the CICU, but one recent interaction made me want to nominate her for this special award.
Last year, she was caring for a patient whose family had decided to withdraw technology to allow their child a loving and peaceful death; something Sofia would call "A Good Death." Not only did she help navigate the process and support the family and child, but she also advocated for the parents and their final wish for organ donation.
Sofia immediately started making phone calls and reaching out to ICU and surgical resources, setting up the process and walking the family through the entire ordeal with sensitivity and expertise. Thanks to her diligence and compassion, the Life Link Team was able to work with the family and help their son give the "gift of a second chance," as she described.
In this unique case, Life Link was able to gift the patient's pancreas, liver, kidneys, and intestine to others waiting for that "second chance." Not only was this nurse able to care for and comfort the entire family during a very difficult death (this alone takes an enormous emotional, mental, and physical toll on a nurse), but she was able to coordinate the entire complicated donation process with professionalism and discretion.
In addition to all the logistics and consultations, Sofia made sure that the family was recognized for their generosity with an "Honor Walk" hosted by CHOA and the ICU teams. How does this contribute to addressing Children's strategic priorities such as quality? Well, this sort of donation would have been unheard of in the CICU two years ago! Now, thanks to cardiac nurses like her, it is now the expectation of the CICU to contact Life Link immediately when appropriate- which overall improves the quality of care in the lives (and deaths) of our patients and families.
Last year, she was caring for a patient whose family had decided to withdraw technology to allow their child a loving and peaceful death; something Sofia would call "A Good Death." Not only did she help navigate the process and support the family and child, but she also advocated for the parents and their final wish for organ donation.
Sofia immediately started making phone calls and reaching out to ICU and surgical resources, setting up the process and walking the family through the entire ordeal with sensitivity and expertise. Thanks to her diligence and compassion, the Life Link Team was able to work with the family and help their son give the "gift of a second chance," as she described.
In this unique case, Life Link was able to gift the patient's pancreas, liver, kidneys, and intestine to others waiting for that "second chance." Not only was this nurse able to care for and comfort the entire family during a very difficult death (this alone takes an enormous emotional, mental, and physical toll on a nurse), but she was able to coordinate the entire complicated donation process with professionalism and discretion.
In addition to all the logistics and consultations, Sofia made sure that the family was recognized for their generosity with an "Honor Walk" hosted by CHOA and the ICU teams. How does this contribute to addressing Children's strategic priorities such as quality? Well, this sort of donation would have been unheard of in the CICU two years ago! Now, thanks to cardiac nurses like her, it is now the expectation of the CICU to contact Life Link immediately when appropriate- which overall improves the quality of care in the lives (and deaths) of our patients and families.
Thank you, Sofia, for your exceptional compassion, advocacy, and dedication to your patients. You truly make a difference.
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