If there's one word that defines Donna Young, it's "compassion." Donna has an inner desire to help patients and families. It's in her blood. It's in her heart. It's just what she does when she walks through the doors of Children's.

This innate compassion is what allows Donna to perform her job so well, even on the hardest days. During a weeknight phone conversation, Donna shared she'd had a particularly tough patient that day, and that the image of how the child must have been treated at home would stay ingrained in her mind forever. The experience so unsettled Donna that she went home and hugged her two little girls because she could never imagine something like that happening to them.

When asked how she was able to go on after such a challenging experience, Donna answered, "It's what I'm meant to do. I want to hug a child who is not hugged at home. I want to make a difference, and I want to lead other nurses to make a difference."