Hillary Rich, MSN, RN

Hillary exemplifies what it means to be an extraordinary nurse; she goes above and beyond the standards of care. Her patients are always well cared for, and she also cares for her coworkers. Even when she is busy with her own assignment, she is the first to offer an extra set of hands to someone struggling to keep their head above water. Working in the pediatric ICU means more to her than just managing the medical needs of critically ill children. No matter how complex their cases are, she ensures they receive every measure of comfort she can safely provide. She offers to help parents hold their children, no matter how much equipment she has to handle. She gets them dressed, makes sure their bedding is always clean, and performs small gestures that give patients and their families a sense of normalcy in an environment that often steals those small experiences. On a day when she had an assignment of two of our PICU's longest-stay residents, she made the time and preparations to take them both outside at the same time on a beautiful day. Both patients were dressed, sunscreen was applied, sunglasses were found, and a team was gathered to take these two patients, usually subjected to the same four walls, out into the world. Once outside, she made sure to take pictures for the families. She sat on the dew-covered grass, holding one of the patients as they napped through their field trip, rocking him gently while continuously ensuring the vitals of both patients stayed within their ordered parameters. It took longer to prepare these two very complex patients to go outside and then get them back settled than they actually tolerated of the outside world, but she did it all with a smile and enthusiasm. Her patients, their families, and all of her co-workers are lucky to have her.