In our busy emergency department, we have a nurse who is known to be quite exceptional - the kind of nurse that other nurses would hope to have caring for their own loved ones if the unthinkable were to ever occur. Because we work in an emergency department, though, we see these unthinkable events every day. As such, great acts of kindness and remarkable skill are not unknown to us. Even so, some of us in our busy emergency department were recently privileged to witness an act of caring that made even the most experienced amongst us take notice, to swallow back our tears, and to feel blessed by the grace of one nurse in particular, Angela Fite.

On this day, a family of four had been brought to us from a multi-car collision. The father lay wounded in one of our resuscitation rooms along with his 9-month-old son and 4-year-old daughter, each of them to be cared for, assessed, treated, but also, happily, overall, well. The fourth member of the family, however, a 3-year-old boy, arrived with life-threatening injuries, and his medics were directed to a different room where his nurse, Angela, met them.

Throughout his time in our ED, Angela provided exceptional care to this young child, start to finish. She utilized her skills, knowledge, and experience to collaborate with the rest of the care team in stabilizing him. She served as an advocate for him, recognizing changes in his status, and communicated effectively with the physician and other members of the care team.

But then, this is expected; this is what we do, right?

And if that was all she had done, we would continue to value and respect her, to appreciate her, and be thankful to work alongside her. But Angela did not limit her care to the routine work of nursing. For this young child who came to us altered and in critical condition, who didn’t have anyone able to be with him in these most vulnerable of moments, Angela filled the role of both nurse and comforter. As he thrashed in the stretcher, Angela’s arms held him, she stroked his forehead, and she spoke gentle words to calm him. As she went about the work of nursing, she soothed him through speech and touch and tone and action. Then, through all of this, a moment stood out to all who were present, at a point when the patient needed to be intubated. During the RSI, he didn’t respond to medications as expected and needed in-the-moment medication adjustments. As the code team went about the work of sustaining life, inserting an OG tube, bagging and drawing blood, each doing their part to keep him breathing, to keep him alive, Angela began to sing “Twinkle, twinkle, little star,” to this sweet boy.

I cannot say enough about her knowledge, skill, and compassion; all are exquisite. She is truly a remarkable nurse and person.

When she began to sing to him, however, she gave comfort in an age-old way. And in singing that lullaby - by filling the quiet spaces of that room with song, she soothed away this child’s agitation and filled the room with renewed hope – Angela transcended the tasks of nursing and embodied the heart of us all.