When I first came to work at the hospital, Ron was frequently the charge nurse on my shifts during and after orientation. His constant attentiveness was a re-assurance and never intrusive, I was never given the impression that he was concerned with my performance, but aware of my situation. I discovered, much later, that he was far more aware of the care I was giving, than I ever expected as he frequently reported up the chain on my behavior, specifically. As these reports came back to me through cards from Peggy Riskorski (to whom I am also very thankful), I began to feel fully welcomed to this new place of employment. It was through these actions that I got my first glimpse of the model nurse Ron is with his patients and the staff around him.

When Ron receives compliments through patient surveys, they are never short, they are almost always paragraphs singing his praises. He is asked for, specifically, by many of the families he cares for. For a while he carried an essay in his pocket that a patient's sibling had written for school. The subject was concerning the advisors she would choose if she ruled the world. In her essay, Ron was one of these advisors, and she cited several actions Ron had taken, above and beyond, that brought comfort and moments of genuine happiness to her family.

Ron takes a lot of flack for being a grumpy old guy by the rest of the staff, but always takes it in stride, never personally, and chuckles as he gives as he receives. He naturally defuses and disarms negativity, and his backhanded positivity is welcomed on any shift.

I am nominating Ron for being the type of person who exemplifies, naturally, the caring qualities that many people work hard to achieve; for being a kind-hearted co-worker (though he would never let you think that); and for being a silent mentor and role model to me, personally, since I began to work here, through his strength of character, kind, kind heart, knowledge, and good works with the patients on the CCBD Inpatient unit.