By Daily Press staff
Hundreds of nurses were honored Wednesday as part of a week-long appreciation effort.
National Nurses Week is a time to appreciate what nurses contribute to patient care in their communities. This year, the week was celebrated May 6 -12 across the country. At Saint John’s Health Center, the hospital and medical staff showed the more than 430 nurses how much they appreciate the professional care they provide.
“We get hundreds of letters each year from patients who have benefited from the outstanding personal and professional skills of our nursing staff,” said Mary Ellen Blakley, vice president of patient care at Saint John’s Health Center. “We’re incredibly proud of our nurses and the contribution they make to helping our patients heal.”
To show their appreciation, the hospital sent massage therapists to both the day and night shifts, provided health screenings, delivered cookies, scheduled speakers and held an appreciation dinner on May 12.
Nurses at Saint John’s come from a variety of backgrounds and bring different skills and experience to the bedside. Some of them include: ■ Veteran labor and delivery nurse Marquina Munoz Freedman, who joined the Saint John’s staff 10 years ago after working at several area hospitals. Freedman has loved babies since she was a girl, and has dedicated herself to helping others, especially new mothers. She has just begun teaching prenatal classes for a Santa Monica OB/GYN practice and also is a massage therapist with private clients. She lives in Venice with her husband, a professional paddleball player. ■Raul Meza, 34, a charge nurse in the ICU, who speaks both Spanish and English. Meza appreciates the importance of being able to communicate to patients in their own language and has made it priority to help recruit more Spanish-speaking nurses. Meza speaks to student groups who come to Saint John’s and at job fairs at local colleges, helping to educate young Hispanic men and women about the benefits of nursing. He’s also mentored several family members who also have gone on to become nurses. Meza says he loves to be able to serve patients and their families in times of crisis. He lives in Canoga Park. ■ Tim Meck, 48, has been an ER nurse at Saint John’s for more than 24 years — by far the longest in the department. He’s always been interested in medicine — he volunteered at a hospital while in high school, worked in an operating room and was an EMT before attending nursing school. Meck says he loves the never-knowing-what-comes-next aspect of the ER. He cares deeply for people in need and finds his job very gratifying. He’s a nighttime charge nurse, overseeing the staff and caring for patients.
One of Meck’s most memorable patients was a 30-year-old man who came to the ER with a severe asthma attack. The young man had stopped breathing and his heart had almost stopped. It was only because of the quick work of Meck and the staff at Saint John’s that he lived. Just a few months ago, on the anniversary of his life-saving visit to the ER, the patient returned to the ER to thank Meck and the staff for their efforts and to give them a letter of thanks. It’s now in one of Meck’s five scrapbooks of memorable moments and awards he’s won that his wife keeps for him. He lives in Thousand Oaks.
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on May 14, 2004. Read the original PDF.