Hyon Kim has been a Kaiser Permanente nurse for over 30 years. He has spent the last twelve years in the Intensive Care Unit at Irvine Medical Center. Hyon is a true frontline leader who has led his team through multiple Covid surges as a charge nurse. Daily, he ensures that his staff knows they can rely on him for expertise, support, and guidance through difficult situations. Hyon comes to work every day with a positive attitude, which rubs off on his coworkers.

In addition to being a strong, supportive leader, Hyon has a great deal of compassion for patients and their families. He has held patients' hands as they took their final breaths, comforted families who have lost loved ones, and cheered when patients are discharged from his unit.

Recently, a critically ill patient was admitted to the unit. Although this is not unusual for the team, this particular patient touched the very core of every member of the unit. She was a fellow nurse, young and full of life, who suffered a traumatic brain injury that would eventually take her life. The entire team was affected by the sadness and pain that seemed to overshadow any good that was happening in the unit. Perhaps they recognized their own mortality in her. Hyon was aware of this shift in his team. He wanted to honor her in a manner consistent with that of his team. So he gathered them and facilitated a beautiful send-off. As she was wheeled to the operating room, a blanket was draped over her body, flowers were placed on her heart, and a sign reading "Thank You, frontline hero" was wrapped around her gurney. This small gesture revitalized and rekindled the team's spirit.

There are numerous other examples of Hyon's compassion and kindness. Recently, he has led teams to plan weddings, and veterans' walks of honor and mentored many nurses. He advocates for his team by ensuring that they have a voice in their practice and has acted as a liaison to ensure that his staff receives adequate support. Hyon embodies the spirit of the DAISY Nurse Leader Award.
 
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When I was employed at Kaiser Irvine ICU, Hyon immediately became my preceptor. As a staff nurse, he is knowledgeable and helpful. He has guided me from the start, and I have always looked up to him as a mentor and the type of nurse I aspire to be. When he was appointed charge nurse of our unit, he established a good and safe work atmosphere in which he is actively interested and informed about his nurses, patients, and families, ensuring that our department is well-managed while he is on duty. He serves on numerous committees, where he is constantly bringing knowledge back to our staff, and you can always count on him to know or find an answer, or to advocate for us nurses when we are in need. When issues happen on the ward, he always knows how to make his staff nurses laugh and see the bright side. He is a team player, and regardless of his workload, he is constantly looking for ways to assist his employees, patients, and family members.

After the pandemic, we had a fellow Kaiser nurse go through the one legacy procedure. Each nurse was nervous and unsure of how to express their emotions. We were at a loss for what to do, and Hyon was the first to express his sorrow, which made us feel more at ease to discuss it and helped us figure out how to commemorate this nurse by advocating and calling our managers on their day off to inform them that we needed to do something for her.

Hyon embodies all that an exceptional nurse leader (charge nurse) should be and everything that every nurse should strive to be. He is constantly on the lookout for contemporary knowledge and shares it. He is responsible for the safety of not just his patients and their families, but also of his nurses. He keeps our team/unit organized and running as a unit; to this day, I am always shocked that working with him on days with many codes or rapid responses is as calm and structured as it is. His leadership demonstrates his concern for nursing.

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Hyon is no doubt the best charge nurse I’ve ever worked with. Working in ICU can be really overwhelming, but Hyon always jumps into the most stressful situation with his calmness and professionalism. As the charge nurse for ICU and CCF, he knows all the patients' conditions and treatment plans really well. Whenever I need help, he shows up right on time and never hesitates to help me. He is extremely knowledgeable, I know I can ask him any kind of question and he will know the answer. He is super humble, He jokes about being the “servant” to all the nurses. I feel safe and confident knowing he is my charge nurse for the shift.

I remember there was one day during COVID surge, Hyon was charge for ICU, CCF, and half of the main DOU. At least 3 patients who were extremely sick were waiting to be intubated and proned. On top of that, a few nurses were out of ratio. EVERYONE needed help and EVERYONE was calling him for something. Hyon never said no to ANYONE and he made sure all nurses get the support they need. I don’t know how he did it but he even stayed with a critically ill patient for hours and assisted the primary nurse with procedures. Later that day, he told me that was his fourth day in a row and it was one of the worse shifts for him. He was still smiling when he said that, but I can tell he was exhausted. To this date, I still can remember the way he handled those difficult days during the COVID surge. He is a role model for all the nurses!