Colleen Dolan's smile is contagious. She radiates warmth as she talks about her youngest patients. Many of them will not see a double-digit birthday.

As a nurse dedicated to Arbor Hospice's pediatric program, Colleen has a natural affinity for kids. And, they seem to be drawn to her too. Noah, a kindergartener brightens visually and offers his biggest smile when she walks into the room, but it wasn't always like that.

Noah had been wary of the much needed medication pump that would provide a source of relief from the pain that riddled his small body. Colleen remembers when she first talked with him about the device. "He was afraid of it, so we sat on the floor trying to figure out where his fear came from. Finally, he told me. Taking a deep breath he said, 'I don't want to die with a needle in my body.' The air and words came out at the same time." I promised him that I wouldn't let that happen, and his fearful little face became peaceful. It was a great comfort to his family to see that his pain could be controlled and his anxiety relieved.

The bond between Colleen and her patient deepened as he grew to trust her. Once when I carried him back to his bedroom, he put his arms around my neck and said, "Colleen, I love you and I trust you."

Her natural connection with children began in nursing school following a clinical rotation at Mott Children's Hospital. "I knew then that I wanted to work with kids. The interaction amazes me. Their attitude isn't 'poor me," it's all about living in the moment, being their joyous little selves. These kids are focused on the here and now," Colleen explains.

As a case manager, Colleen manages every aspect of her youngest patients' care from ordering medication to coordinating the services they need from Arbor Hospice. "I supervise their symptom management, which can include pain and nausea. I also educate the families on their child's disease, their medications and connect them with our grief support and other services to provide the help they need at this critical time."

Arbor Hospice treats about twenty-five pediatric patients each year, and Colleen has her hands on each case. Each touches her in a different way, "I will never forget Zayleigh, just three months-old when I met her - when she came onto our service. She had started losing weight about then and her family couldn't feed her. Eventually we had to insert a specially sized feeding tube, and she took in just enough to keep herself sustained."

One evening later that spring, baby Zayleigh died with her parents at home. Colleen remembers sitting with the family of the eight month old as she passed. "She was so tiny. Mom had selected an American Girl Doll dress to bury her in."

Colleen has a unique connection with kids. She says, "Children can sense how you feel and they know when you're okay to come into their space. They have a raw sense of people. I am often with the child from when they enter hospice to the moment they die. Families connect with me as much as the kids do." There's an unspoken communication, which links nurse, pediatric patient and family forever that no human can accurately define.