2025 My SoCal Hospital Heroes Awards Gala
LINDSAY BRANT UCLA HEALTH
Nursing Clinical Nurse III
In the high-stakes environment of the Cardiothoracic ICU, where cutting-edge medicine meets the most vulnerable moments in patients’ lives, critical care nurse Lindsay Brant is a force of compassion, innovation and integrity. Over the past 12 months, she has transformed how end-of-life care is experienced—not only by patients and families, but also by the nurses who provide it.
institutions to learn from and replicate her team’s approach to human-centered ICU care. Under Lindsay’s guidance, Community has implemented several core practices that are changing lives every day: • Moment of Silence: When a patient passes, the entire care team gathers with the family for a brief, shared pause. This ritual acknowledges the life lost, the care given and the emotional labor shared—providing a moment of collective closure that is deeply healing for families and staff alike.
After planting the seeds of Community in 2023, Lindsay officially launched the grassroots, nurseled initiative in 2024 to infuse end-of-life care with greater dignity, emotional presence and compassion. Over the past year, she has expanded its reach and deepened its impact—introducing new tools, rituals and support systems that address the emotional, ethical and spiritual dimensions of caring for the seriously ill and dying.
• 3 Wishes Program: UCLA Health’s 3 Wishes Program is a systemwide initiative to honor patients nearing the end of life. Lindsay’s Community initiative embraced this program early on, making it a core part of their compassionate care approach. Through Community, Lindsay coordinates deeply personal gestures—like memory books, bedside ceremonies and even a wedding in the ICU hallway—bringing meaningful, personalized care to patients and families.
Her leadership and vision were elevated on national stages. She presented Community’s approach at the 2024 End Well Conference, the Nursing Ethics Conference and the American Association of Critical-Care Nurses’ 2025 National Teaching Institute and Critical Care Exposition, where her unit’s work was selected for its innovation in palliative nursing. These platforms helped extend her vision beyond UCLA Health, allowing other
• Goals of Care Prompts: In 2024, Lindsay supported the integration of structured tools that 28