Melissa S Clark
October 2023
Melissa S
Clark
,
MSN, RN, OCN
Non Invasive Cardiology
Corewell Health
Grand Rapids
,
MI
United States
Time of day or evening did not matter, Melissa always answered and made sure I understood that my family and I should be our number one priority.
Melissa came to our department and changed the climate from RNs working isolated and intimidated - to a trusting, caring, and sharing environment. She goes to bat for our nursing team with nursing management, providers, and other departments. We now have out-of-work outings to help build camaraderie and out-of-work relationships among her staff. Her door is always open - she has a passionate listening ear and always has time for concerns and problems. She is an active problem solver and takes suggestions from her team on how to improve our department.
We are all capable now of working multiple sites, which makes trading shifts and getting time off for important events even after the schedule is published. Each week - we get updates, and share each other's successes and everyone has the most up-to-date data on compliances and the latest goals for our department by our uplines - our department has literally turned into a profitable department - instead of the department that was always in the red. It was quite demoralizing each month after working so hard to find out we were not "up to par".
On a personal note, when my sister was diagnosed with MDS and then leukemia - she took my calls and text messages. Her background includes cancer treatments - she helped me navigate treatment explanations - when I was not able to be objective. Time of day or evening did not matter, she always answered and made sure I understood that my family and I should be our number one priority. The fact that I could be asked to be a bone marrow donor -she assured me that everything can be figured out. Our dynamic, resourceful, supportive team can handle anything and will always be there for one another. I will never forget the peace of mind she gave me in this difficult time. She is leaving our department to return to her passion - back to the cancer pavilion - she was so gracious and made sure that we understood how amazing we are and how she will miss our day-to-day interactions. She is leaving our department in a much, much better place - in every way. I hope she is appreciated for the amazing leader she is - in her new home. We will miss her tremendously.
We are all capable now of working multiple sites, which makes trading shifts and getting time off for important events even after the schedule is published. Each week - we get updates, and share each other's successes and everyone has the most up-to-date data on compliances and the latest goals for our department by our uplines - our department has literally turned into a profitable department - instead of the department that was always in the red. It was quite demoralizing each month after working so hard to find out we were not "up to par".
On a personal note, when my sister was diagnosed with MDS and then leukemia - she took my calls and text messages. Her background includes cancer treatments - she helped me navigate treatment explanations - when I was not able to be objective. Time of day or evening did not matter, she always answered and made sure I understood that my family and I should be our number one priority. The fact that I could be asked to be a bone marrow donor -she assured me that everything can be figured out. Our dynamic, resourceful, supportive team can handle anything and will always be there for one another. I will never forget the peace of mind she gave me in this difficult time. She is leaving our department to return to her passion - back to the cancer pavilion - she was so gracious and made sure that we understood how amazing we are and how she will miss our day-to-day interactions. She is leaving our department in a much, much better place - in every way. I hope she is appreciated for the amazing leader she is - in her new home. We will miss her tremendously.