As you know, I’ve been with SoCAL KP, mostly at Downey, as a pediatric surgeon for the past 4-5 years and with NorCAL KP for over 10 years. I wanted to really show my appreciation and give recognition to Kristine Tanales. I believe she is one of the best nurses I’ve ever worked with in my entire career. I’ve now worked with her for several years, and she’s gone out of her way to come to Downey to be the nurse in my room on the days I operate.

I’ve also noticed that she’s frequently paired with someone who’s training or new and found her to be an excellent teacher. I have never worked with a nurse who’s harder working, more efficient, caring, smart, dedicated, and above all, kind and compassionate. She’s amazing with children and the parents and has true compassion for them in their time of need. She is proactive and goes beyond to really improve patient safety and their care experience.

You can also probably tell from looking at my OR cases that I get a tremendous number of cases done when she’s helping me, and this is mostly because of her personal dedication to moving the cases along with rapid turnovers, including when there are complex NICU/PICU/floor patients. Her shift normally ends mid-afternoon, and I can’t believe that she looks at the remaining cases and makes sure that things are prepared and ready. Who does this?

I rarely, if ever, write like this. She is a true gem and a one in a million.