I am supposed to write a specific story of Ron's commitment to patient-centered care but as I try to think of the one time that he did something special that stands out from the things he does and has done for decades at St. Luke's, it is like trying to find that drop of water in the ocean that makes the ocean amazing. I literally cannot pick one.

Ron’s commitment to patient care and excellence in nursing has always been an inspiration to me. No one in my career has taught me more about how to be a surgical assistant while showing care and compassion than Ron. His understanding of the job of cardiac surgical assisting, combined with his care and compassion for patients as well as his coworkers, is unrivaled. As a nurse, to some degree, his superior level of excellence can be summed up by the fact that when I went to become certified as a Certified Nurse, Operating Room, the instructor had us introduce ourselves. When I mentioned where I worked at St. Luke's, she realized I worked with Ron, and I suddenly became a class celebrity merely because of that. She knew of Ron and had even worked with him and told the class, "There isn't a better surgical assist in St. Louis." Anyone who has worked with this Ron Fiehler knows she is correct.

As a Nurse Leader, he has taken our St. Luke's team to an entirely new level. We are now doing better, more efficient surgery than ever before. This is thanks to his at-work and at-home dedication. At work, he started having the team come to the morning report. The morning report allows the team to get the current status of the day, updates on generic operations, and time to bond by talking together as a team for a few minutes before we get going. He is always bringing in presents for people who are new, have birthdays, or just need a pick-me-up.

In my years at Luke's, I haven't seen the team feel so supported. One of the best things of all is that this Ron leads by example. There isn't a harder worker on the team than him. He is always the first to arrive and often the last to leave. He rarely takes breaks and gives breaks to every member of the team. When he is not at St. Luke's he evidently is mentally still here as he is always updating us with the schedule he seemingly constantly has to rework or helping direct the team with questions we may have.

The last thing I have to say is that he does all of these things in a way that is so humble. I don't think he really knows the impact he makes on every one of us and I don't think there are many people who get to work for someone so great. You should all be so lucky as our team to get to work with a Nurse Leader like Ron.