Kathleen was the nurse who was there during the course of my dad's last day on this earth. She treated him with kindness and compassion while maintaining a high level of professionalism. She extended that compassion to the family as we came to terms with letting him go. I asked her how she could do this every day by choice and she said it was often very hard and emotional, but that she felt it was a calling. I know that we were blessed to have her tending to him during his final hours. She gave us space, answered difficult questions, and kept a watchful eye. She brought comfort in a very hard time.
I know this is her job and imagine it would be easy to put up a wall to save yourself from the emotions that must come regularly on that floor, but Kathleen clearly felt invested in the care and outcome of my dad's last day. I would want this for anyone facing difficult decisions and the pending loss of a loved one.
The value of an employee cannot be measured by their knowledge and skills alone; the human factor must surely come into play. Kathleen Updike should be the standard of care in the MICU. She could not control the outcome, but she met the task with empathy and that made a big difference to me on my dad's last day.

Note: This is Kathleen's 2nd DAISY Award!