While I am writing about two recent examples of Tamara's care and compassion toward others, I know that she consistently demonstrates these qualities as a servant-leader on 4 West.

Recently, Tamara called me and asked me to be present with her as she told a patient that his wife, who was on another unit in our hospital, had just died. Both were COVID+ and his wife's illness was much more severe. Tamara was very compassionate and caring in how she delivered the bad news. She worked with the nurse manager and nurse of the wife's unit to facilitate a time for the patient to see his deceased wife. Tamara helped the patient in a wheelchair and she and I escorted him to see his wife. The patient was extremely grateful to Tamara for the opportunity to say his goodbyes and spend a few moments with her.

Another example is the compassion Tamara demonstrated with one of her staff. The mother of the staff member died from COVID-19 during the summer. The staff member was signed up to receive her second COVID-19 vaccine on the day after her mother's birthday. The staff member decided to receive the two vaccine doses in honor of her mother, recognizing that they could have saved her mother's life. On the day of the second vaccine appointment, Tamara and two other nurses from the unit were waiting in the conference room where the vaccines were being administered to offer their support to the staff member when she arrived. Their support was much appreciated and very meaningful to the staff member.

Tamara is a huge advocate for her patients and her staff. The above attributes that a nurse leader should model seem to have been written with Tamara in mind - trust, compassion, mutual respect, and ethical behavior. She doesn’t hesitate to jump and help her staff to do direct patient care when necessary or on challenging situations. I am grateful that she is a colleague.