Kyle was nominated by ten clinical staff members on 8 South who have given each of us the opportunity to experience his empathy through the following nomination.

8 South writes, “We all were, and still grieving, the COVID-19 pandemic when Kyle first came onto our unit. We questioned what this new Patient Care Director could possibly do to repair the damage that was already done. As the months passed and Kyle settled into his new role in our SICU, I slowly felt my snarky side-eye become less frequent as he rounded a corner to say, “Good morning! How are you this morning?” An example I have of Kyle supporting me, and my other coworkers on this specific day, is a dark one. A young patient, emergently wheeled onto our unit, was hooked up to the monitor in their new room, and soon after, their heart stopped. Throughout the almost 2 hours of resuscitation attempts to save the life of this young patient, Kyle was never far away. Near the end of our resuscitation attempts, it became clear that this patient was not going to make it. From across the room, I looked out into the hall, and saw the look he gave not only to me, but other staff members who had been working tirelessly in that room. At first, I thought the furrow on his brow was sorrow or concern, but I soon realized that it was a look I would attribute to empathy. Not just empathy towards the family of the deceased, but for the nurses, doctors, and physician assistants who had done everything, absolutely everything, they could to save a life.”