On December 24 a dear friend and former co-worker passed away quite suddenly and quickly on our unit. It was a very stressful, traumatic event. It was an extremely busy evening and continued into the night shift. We were changing shifts, didn't think it could get worse, but it did. The patent arrived on the unit and within minutes of entering his room was gone. I won't go into details but it was a horrific sight. Liz Suddoth had been off from work for a few weeks and this was her first night back. That alone can be stressful. This was not her patient. Liz assisted in the room trying to get things cleaned up before the patient's wife arrived. When she came to the door, Liz just comforted her, talked to her, and held her, keeping her calm. Liz stayed with the wife the whole time, holding her arm, letting her know we were all there for her, speaking kindly of the patient, our former co-worker. Then she went in the room with his wife. When she was ready to leave, Liz walked her down to her car, carrying his belongings. Again, this wasn't her patient and she really didn't need to do all she did. She truly went above and beyond that night. I was not there through the night but I'm told Liz helped keep things together for the 11-7 shift. Several of the midnight nurses worked with the patient for many years, as had Liz. It was difficult to continue their duties throughout the night. I was taken by the way Liz remained so calm and supportive. It would have been easy to think, "I have an assignment waiting for me, work I need to get done." But she thought of others first.