May 2016
Sue
Matzick
,
BSN, CCRN
Surgical Intensive Care Unit
Denver Health and Hospital
Denver
,
CO
United States
As a Charge RN, Sue has been a member of the Charge RN Council for years - and a co-chair. She helps organize Nurses' Week. She has been involved with LLC, Magnet, and Project Cure. She has tons of staff education posted online. There's not much going on in this hospital that doesn't have Sue Matzick involved in it.
A couple months ago, we had a couple of gunshot patients come in - and their family members (probably close to 100 in total). It quickly became too much - the patients' families (and their extended families) all heard about the outcome in the hallway and they began crying, wailing, fighting, and nearly rioting. Throughout this, Sue was a calming force that helped to organize spaces for them to stay and grieve and organized for all the extended family to view the deceased patient in the SICU!
A couple weeks ago, Sue helped during a cop shooting. Again, tons of emotional people (cops) that were quietly organized and coordinated. She called me to help set up a meeting room for the mayor, brought cops down the unsterile hallway directly to the Charge RNs, and helped organize food for the grieving coworkers and family.
My Charge RN told me of another time when she organized a private viewing for a patient that died in the OR and was never admitted to the SICU. After the viewing, she arranged for morgue transport as the OR Charge was having a very busy night.
I think we all have heard of or seen Sue at the meetings that we attend. Her reach is far. What's most impressive to me, is that as secluded as the OR is from the rest of the hospital, we still feel the effect her exemplary nursing compassion and skill has upon us in our little department. We can focus our energy on caring for traumatically injured patients because Sue has stepped out of her own critical-care area to help us by caring for those patients' families and friends. We could not do what we do without her and her team.
Sue may actually be a super-hero, because I have never heard of anyone complain about her stretching herself too thin. To be able to manage so much during her time here is nothing short of amazing.
A couple months ago, we had a couple of gunshot patients come in - and their family members (probably close to 100 in total). It quickly became too much - the patients' families (and their extended families) all heard about the outcome in the hallway and they began crying, wailing, fighting, and nearly rioting. Throughout this, Sue was a calming force that helped to organize spaces for them to stay and grieve and organized for all the extended family to view the deceased patient in the SICU!
A couple weeks ago, Sue helped during a cop shooting. Again, tons of emotional people (cops) that were quietly organized and coordinated. She called me to help set up a meeting room for the mayor, brought cops down the unsterile hallway directly to the Charge RNs, and helped organize food for the grieving coworkers and family.
My Charge RN told me of another time when she organized a private viewing for a patient that died in the OR and was never admitted to the SICU. After the viewing, she arranged for morgue transport as the OR Charge was having a very busy night.
I think we all have heard of or seen Sue at the meetings that we attend. Her reach is far. What's most impressive to me, is that as secluded as the OR is from the rest of the hospital, we still feel the effect her exemplary nursing compassion and skill has upon us in our little department. We can focus our energy on caring for traumatically injured patients because Sue has stepped out of her own critical-care area to help us by caring for those patients' families and friends. We could not do what we do without her and her team.
Sue may actually be a super-hero, because I have never heard of anyone complain about her stretching herself too thin. To be able to manage so much during her time here is nothing short of amazing.