As a nurse on the 5th floor for many years, I know the ins and outs of nursing at Penrose well. We try to connect with patients and their families, and sometimes we have those key moments that define why we are nurses and why nurses make such a difference in the lives of others. As a wife and mother of 4 young children, I did not anticipate needing the services of CVU nurses and CNAs but that is exactly where I found myself on a rainy day in January with my 37yo husband in a new onset A-fib and congestive heart failure as well. I'm a renal nurse. I don't like dealing with the heart especially when it comes to the love of my life. The CVU team treated us with compassion and respect and I am externally grateful to all of them (many of whom I cannot remember their names because of my own stress and fatigue.

I'm tearing up just writing this down. Words cannot express my gratitude to Hilary Valez for her honesty, her patience, her teaching, and her support. I think one of the hardest patients to care for is the family member of a colleague. It can be uncomfortable not knowing how to approach the "nurse" in the family, especially one who works in the same hospital. Hilary was upfront, but compassionate; honest but optimistic; present and patient with the many, many questions. In addition, she supported our extended family, which consists of about a million people, and never became frustrated or asked anyone to leave. In the scariest time of my life, when faced with losing my partner and daddy of my little ones, Hilary gave me hope and comfort.

I'm truly grateful that God placed her in that moment in that hospital room, to give me peace of mind and the strength to know it would be okay. The nomination form says that it is the ability to "see beyond the obvious and address, in some way, the deeper needs of the human soul". Hilary embodied this characteristic fully and deserves to be recognized for her incredible nursing care, bedside manner, and the ability to care for the whole person.