I am Holly’s coworker, and throughout my time working as a nurse, I have never seen such a daily example of kindness and compassion throughout the most difficult circumstances. With every patient that Holly cares for, she completely devotes her 12-hour shift to her patients to ensure they receive the most cohesive and well-rounded care and acts as a true patient advocate. Holly spends her time speaking with and getting to know her patients, making sure they are as comfortable as they can be in their current circumstances, always providing comforts, no matter how small, that these patients can hold on to during their ICU stay to help them feel a little less scared. She also makes a point to facilitate relationships with patients' loved ones, no matter how busy her shift is, providing unending devotion, encouragement, and compassion to her patient's loved ones. Holly is the type of nurse that patients and their loved ones pray they are taken care by. Outside of the hours she works at the hospital, she still exhibits these same qualities.

During the freeze, when nurses were unable to make it to work, Holly spent her days off picking up nurses to go to work before 7 pm and coming back before 7 am to take nurses home, as most of our cars aren’t equipped to handle a freeze, and many nurses do not know how to drive in it safely. These were on her days off, and she spent 3-4 hour long car trips to ensure that nurses could make it to work safely and proper care could be given to our patients.

I have rarely met people capable of the care and compassion that Holly displays. UT Health East Texas is so lucky to have her working at our facility, advocating for patients on and off the clock.