It was my first week on the job, and we were in charge of submitting benetravels for the veterans. I was at a complete loss on how to go about submitting this. My desk was piling up with so many veteran’s appointments for off-island, and I just felt so lost on how to navigate the system. I remember Maggie walking into the office close to the end of the day, and she was ready to give me a veteran’s appointment list to submit. I was going to receive it from her and try to figure out the rest on my own. I could feel Maggie’s care for me all from when she said, “Hi, are you okay? Do you know how to submit travels? Because if not I can totally show you how.” I felt as if she read every single expression written all over my face of being scared, being so new to the job and trying to get to know the whole VA system. Maggie made time for me every day on my first month on the job to make sure I was submitting travels correctly, even though it was not part of her scope of work. Even when she would have a patient with her, she would reassure me that as soon as she is done serving the veteran, she would come by and see what I needed help with. To have this type of assistance brought me so much comfort and made me look forward to coming to work; because I knew someone would be kind enough to be patient with me in teaching me what I need to know and making time without hesitation to give a lending hand. Another one of my favorite moments with Maggie was when I had answered a very angry phone call from one of the veterans. I tried my best to assist him in keeping him calm, but he was just so upset. He did not want to speak with me but wanted to speak with a nurse. After I spoke with the veteran, I vented to Maggie about how I tried to help, and it didn’t work. Maggie immediately called the veteran, and while she was on the phone, she asked me to wait next to her while she assisted the veteran on the line. Maggie was able to de-escalate the issue and help the veteran calm down. Maggie was able to address all of the veteran’s concerns, and he expressed much gratitude for her time and patience. When she got off the phone with the veteran, she looked at me and said, “If you ever encounter calls like these or even if it is in person, just come to me. I’m not perfect, but I’d love to help you out. Don’t do it alone.” Maggie not only relieved the veteran, but she made me feel at ease and braver to own the moment the next time it may happen again. Another one of my favorites which occurs a lot, is when veterans come during the nurse's lunchtime. I would kindly inform the veteran that the nurses are currently at lunch, but I can still let the nurses know that the veteran is in the clinic waiting on medication or wanting to discuss a concern. While the veteran(s) wait patiently, I notify the nurses of who is in the waiting area and the reason for their visit. In all my four years working with AMS CBOC, Maggie has never mentioned, “Please have them wait until our 30 minutes is over”. She is always quick to respond with, “I can get him” or “I’ll take him” or “How long has been waiting? I got it I’ll come talk to him/her.” It never matters to her whether it is Dr. Uhrle’s patient or Dr. Faumuina’s patient or MH. She takes on whoever, whenever. Maggie always shares with me how she doesn’t feel comfortable having lunch while the veteran is waiting in the front. She always makes sure that the patients are not waiting long and will do everything she can to get them the help they seek. She would even say, “I can always eat later.” To wrap things up, I nominate RN Maggie Fanolua because she is the same humble and selfless nurse I met from the beginning of my VA life all the way to the current day; she is the same. I have watched the way she works tirelessly with us employees, and then the same love and care is given to our veterans. She performs ICARE and WECARE daily, and even she doesn’t realize that she has owned MANY moments both with Veterans and employees. Because of her selflessness and humility, she has made me want to be a better person towards my VA Family and also towards our awesome veterans. I remind her every day of what a great person she is and how her service to both veterans and employees is always met. Because we all know that as much as a nurse can appear heroic, they too can feel stressed, exhausted, overwhelmed, and sometimes unaccomplished. The best thanks I can give back to Maggie is to encourage her each day that she is doing an amazing job and that I hope to serve the way she does, to make veterans feel complete, and to be a good friend to those we work with. God Bless our Nurses!