My 94-year-old mom came into the ER via ambulance. When I arrived about 30 minutes later, she was already in an ER room. Though she was feeling very sick, she happily introduced me to Chad, and he quickly filled me in on everything that had been done thus far, while still finding a way to engage her and make her feel important and seen.

It was quite a balance, as I tend to ask a lot of questions, but Chad has a knack for matching his energy to his audience, being friendly and informative to me while being warm and reassuring to mom, all in the same conversation. Every time he left the room, he told us what was going on and what we were waiting for, and he ensured we didn't have any questions before he left. He popped his head in to check on us often. He never rushed away and let us know if something would keep him busy for a bit, in case another nurse had to answer our call.

Spending a lot of time in hospitals with my medically fragile son, I have high expectations for patient-and-family centered care. Chad exceeded all of them.