I wanted to take a moment to recognize Veronica who I have the honor of working with. In healthcare, there is so much focus on how we care for our patients, however I also think it’s important that we not lose sight of how we care for each other as a team. We are with each other sometimes more than our families, we deal with stressful, sometimes life and death situations on a regular basis- and our outside lives do not stop because of this. We are all people with families outside of this hospital's four walls, and that can’t always be “left at the door” when we clock in.

I am typically someone who can leave my personal life on the back burner at work. However, this past year has been one traumatic event after the other for my family. Several months ago, something very personal and very sad happened. I was sitting in MDRs with Veronica, and I just could not hold my sadness in any longer. I started crying, trying very hard to stop because I realized this was a less-than-professional situation. Veronica was amazing! They listened, they hugged me, they comforted me, they let me cry- they let me be human. They let me be more than my title or my profession and allowed me to be a human being who was hurting. My problem didn’t go away, but I felt 1000% less alone and 1000% as though I was truly part of a team. I felt seen and heard.

As a healthcare provider, I understand the importance of allowing our patients and their families to feel that way. But we need that as providers as well, and that was not lost on this nurse.