Circle of Care
Date: Septmber 24, 2007

When Melissa Campbell joined the Floyd family a few weeks ago, her arrival as a nurse at the Floyd Primary Care office in Rockmart completed a circle of care that began nearly two years ago. The story of how she became a member of our team is a testament to the far-reaching repercussions of service that goes well beyond expectations.

Melissa’s mother’s battle with cancer was arduous, resulting in numerous hospitalizations, the removal of one of her lungs and, toward the end of her life, a long stay in Floyd Medical Center’s Intensive Care Unit.

Melissa, a career nurse, was working at Murray Medical Center in Chatsworth when her mother’s health sent her to Floyd’s ICU.

“That’s a good hospital over there, but these guys went above and beyond,” Melissa said, her eyes tearing.

It was winter, but even on the darkest and shortest days, Melissa remembers smiles.

“They always had smiles on their faces. They were always good about explaining things that we didn’t understand, the reasons behind certain treatments and what to expect next. It was almost like they had a sixth sense. They knew when to give you news and let you absorb it, and they knew when to pat your back and say, ‘It is going to be OK.’”

The ICU nurses also relieved Melissa from the role of nurse and let her fill a more important role for her at the time–that of daughter.

“Unfortunately, when you’re a nurse, the nursing staff a lot of times would say, ‘Oh, you can do that for her,’ but I didn’t feel that with the ICU,” she said. “Instead, they said, ‘You go take a break. Go breathe. Go absorb the information you are being given. Let us take care of this.”

The attention her mother received–and, in turn, handed out–instilled a since of trust that helped Melissa do just that.

“They were very, very good about calling me in the middle of the night if something went wrong. And, every time I saw her she was in a different position. I know from a nursing aspect that you turn your patients and reposition them, but it seemed like every time we went in she was in a different position. That let me know as a nurse that, yes, they are on top of things. She never had a bed sore or anything like that in the time she was at Floyd. They just treated her like family.”

The staff, in turn, was treated like family, she said.

Melissa’s mother, although critically ill and receiving oxygen from a tracheostomy, gave crocheting lessons to the ICU nurses.

“They told me later that she passed on a tradition to them that they had been trying forever to learn and couldn’t. They took her in and treated her like family.”

Perhaps unknowingly, the ICU nurses passed on something as well: a desire to be a part of an organization that is committed to care that goes well beyond expectations.

Melissa said she knew then that if she ever moved back to Rome, she would work at Floyd.

Recently, that opportunity came. Melissa moved to Rome, applied at Floyd and now is working as a nurse at Floyd Primary Care in Rockmart. She is thrilled with her decision.

“Everybody I work with has just been amazingly good,” Melissa said. “I have been a nurse for 13 years. I’ve dealt with a lot of different hospitals, going through school, associating with other nurses and working at other hospitals, and no one can hold a candle to Floyd.”

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