My Dad, aged 87, was a patient for about a week before he passed away. He had always seemed to be a fit and active man, so although he was unwell, we hadn't expected him to die when he was first admitted to hospital. Kus was Dad's primary nurse on the day after we learned that his treatment wasn't working and nothing more could be done and that he would die very soon. When I went into the ward that morning, Kus greeted me in the corridor and took me to the family room to check that I was up to date on everything and that we were on the same page in terms of Dad's care. On this day, Dad was still very much awake, aware, and making his wishes clear. He has always been a man with a lot of interests and a love of finding common ground with other people. It was clear that he and Kus had already been talking about their common interest in music and Dad had been showing Kus some of his photos. It was so lovely for Dad to have that person-to-person connection with someone at such a difficult time. Throughout the day, Kus found a perfect balance of sharing his humanity through the connection he made with Dad and caring for his clinical needs in a grounded and attentive way. I noticed that he thought of the little things to make sure Dad was comfortable, such as offering to lubricate my Dad's nostrils as the oxygen he was on was drying - and doing so with just the right level of humour about Dad having someone's little finger up his nose! Dad received a number of visitors throughout the day and Kus supported this kindly, ensuring everyone had the right PPE and allowing Dad that space to say his final goodbyes to people.

As well as being compassionate and kind in his care of Dad, Kus went the extra mile when he called me out of the room and asked me if Dad had any spiritual needs that might need to be thought about. We talked about dad's humanist approach to life and how he expressed his spirituality in his relationship with nature. Kus helped me think that we could contact the Humanist Celebrant that we were planning to ask to lead Dad's funeral - so I asked Dad if he would like to talk to the celebrant and he agreed that he would. Kus happily took over and within the hour he had called the Celebrant and she was on the way to talk with Dad! I was so grateful for him thinking about this when none of us had, and that Dad had that opportunity to talk to someone neutral about his thoughts about dying. It's not an easy thing to support someone in having a good death - to give them space to be themselves, be a natural normal open human being with them while you are also attending clinical care, to think about the extra things that no one else has thought about, to care for the shocked and saddened relatives and friends too. Kus did all of this with compassion and grace and I wanted to thank him for this.