Suzzanne McDermott
Wellstar Community Hospice
Suzzanne McDermott’s manager, Allyson Zalva says, “I have always said hospice nursing is more an art than a science. The art of anticipating the needs of the dying takes time, and Suzzanne never walks away from that.”
McDermott wasn’t always a nurse though. Early on she worked in banking and then upon becoming pregnant with her third child, she chose to stay home with her children. Later she started considering going back to work to help with college expenses for the children but her plans were put on hold while she underwent treatment for breast cancer.
After her husband was promoted at work, the family was transferred to Atlanta but two grandparents became terminally ill so Suzzanne cared for them at the home of her parents. When her grandmother was moved to an Alzheimer’s unit, Suzzanne was not pleased with the care she received and this is what motivated her to become a nurse.
She says, “I decided that I was going to become a nurse so that I could take care of people the way that I would want my family or myself to be taken care of.”
Since graduating nursing school over 12 years ago Suzzanne has been a hospice nurse and she’s been with WellStar about 4 of those years. She loves her coworkers and says she can really stand behind the compassion and top-notch care that WellStar provides.
Not long ago, McDermott was able to fulfill a special wish for one of her patients. She says, “From the time I met my 88 year old male patient, he talked about how much he loved to go dancing at the VFW hall. He went dancing every week until he became too sick with his cancer.”
“His birthday was approaching and I made plans with his daughters and other hospice team members to take him out dancing. However, days before his birthday, the bone cancer reared its ugly head and he became mostly chair to bed bound due to the excruciating pain and increased weakness. Yet, he still talked about wanting to go dancing one last time.” “So, myself, his hospice CNA, and his daughters planned a birthday party at his house, played some of his favorite music and danced with him while he was in his wheelchair. As I recall, I think he even attempted to stand for a minute to ‘shake a leg’ for the last time.”
A week later, her patient passed away, but McDermott says he was all smiles at his last dance.
