Nora King, an ICU Charge nurse at Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital and Trauma Center was selected to paint a heart for the 2023 Hearts in San Francisco project. She thought that her heart would be auctioned off to an unknown buyer, but her team at ZSFG had other plans.

From being selected as a 2023 Hearts in San Francisco Artist to having her heart auctioned, Nora’s MICU team has been proudly following along her journey. Through the power of social media, her team has been able to watch her sculpture progress and they fell in love with the completed mosaic heart.

It’s not every day that you get to surprise someone with a gift like this! That’s when MICU Charge nurses Tracy Cassin and Karyn Sanchez suggested to their team bidding on the heart to surprise Nora and having it displayed in their unit. The whole team was immediately enthusiastic about the idea and so it was decided, they would anonymously bid on Nora’s Heart in the hopes that they could bring her heart home.

Over 60 people from across multiple units at Zuckerberg San Francisco General contributed. From MICU and SICU RN’s to Attending Providers and Respiratory Therapy, so many people were thrilled to be apart of this special surprise. It took a team to pull this off and the generosity and “heart” was incredible.

The whole team was buzzing with excitement after winning the bid and now came the hard part, keeping it a secret from Nora until the heart was delivered. Nora’s roommate who also works in the MICU found it especially hard to not spill this exciting secret.

I honestly cannot believe we pulled it off. Have you ever seen a baseball game when a pitcher is close to throwing a no hitter and everyone on the team stops talking to him out of superstition to not blow it? It was like that on the unit for a bit

Diane Scarlet, RN

When Nora’s incredible team eventually surprised her with the heart, her genuine surprise and excitement made the journey worthwhile! Nora’s heart serves as a metaphor for a lot of the work she and her colleagues at the MICU accomplish, and they are grateful to have it as sign to see every day and serve as a reminder of their excellent teamwork.