“My drive to improve the care of critically-ill ICU patients comes from my years of experience in the ICU setting. Patients I cared for often required mechanical ventilation and experienced physical restraint and sedation. I realized I lacked the tools to adequately communicate with them and assess their pain. Furthermore, I observed the confusion and distress of families as they sought to make difficult decisions about the care of their loved ones, and I was unsure how best to support them. During this time I was also introduced to clinicians in the emergent field of palliative care. I was able to observe first-hand the impact that palliative care practice could have on multiple domains of the patient and family experience, particularly for patients at end-of-life, and I wondered why all clinicians could not be trained in these skills. I am a nurse scientist committed to becoming a leader in the field of primary palliative care—improving care for all critically-ill intensive care unit (ICU) patients and their families by equipping ICU clinicians to integrate palliative care principles and practices into routine bedside care.”