Mary M Maddox
April 2022
Mary M
Maddox
,
ADN, RN
Surgery Clinic Teams
Veterans Administration Eastern Colorado Health Care System
Aurora
,
CO
United States
The family in a follow-up phone call reported how Mary was the one constant they valued and needed during their loved one’s care here at RMR VAMC.
I am nominating Mary Maddox RN from the Surgery Clinic Teams for the DAISY Award for her dedication to providing timely compassionate care to our veterans and their families. Mary was selected as our CardioThoracic RN Coordinator for surgical services at RMR VAMC in August 2019. I knew right away that she was going to be the answer this facility needed to give excellent care to our vulnerable surgical population. These veterans (and their families) require an extra level of support and love that Mary has given to all of these patients. She remains calm and listens to veterans and their families. She provides education and comfort in a way that makes sense to the veterans and their loved ones. She treats every patient with the respect and dignity that our nation’s heroes deserve.
RMR VAMC recently had a vulnerable veteran come in for an urgent heart operation. His medical background was very complex, but he had a great support system in place advocating for him. During difficult COVID times, including the limited visitor policies, Mary advocated for his family to be by his side to encourage eating, activity engagement with PT/OT, and foster social support to prevent delirium and health decline. The family in a follow-up phone call reported how Mary was the one constant they valued and needed during their loved one’s care here at RMR VAMC. The family never felt like they were a burden or a ‘to-do’ for Mary.
His daughter, in a letter written to the Nurse Manager, after her father's discharge, talked about how Mary's empathy and compassion were the balms that she needed during a family health crisis. Her descriptions and explanations of B's description were "just right". Mary's words "brought deeply needed succor to his wife, and no words can explain what that meant to me."
RMR VAMC recently had a vulnerable veteran come in for an urgent heart operation. His medical background was very complex, but he had a great support system in place advocating for him. During difficult COVID times, including the limited visitor policies, Mary advocated for his family to be by his side to encourage eating, activity engagement with PT/OT, and foster social support to prevent delirium and health decline. The family in a follow-up phone call reported how Mary was the one constant they valued and needed during their loved one’s care here at RMR VAMC. The family never felt like they were a burden or a ‘to-do’ for Mary.
His daughter, in a letter written to the Nurse Manager, after her father's discharge, talked about how Mary's empathy and compassion were the balms that she needed during a family health crisis. Her descriptions and explanations of B's description were "just right". Mary's words "brought deeply needed succor to his wife, and no words can explain what that meant to me."