Nurse of the Week Mary Schaaf has been a nurse since the days of white uniform dresses and nurse caps. She’s 77 now but has no plans to retire at this point. On March 25, the 77-year-old Omaha RN will celebrate a half-century in the profession, and already admiring colleagues are honoring her commitment by referring to her as a “Mother Teresa of Nursing!”
Every other weekend, Schaaf works her shift at the Millard Good Samaritan Society nursing home, where she cares for about 20 residents during a shift. She’s in great demand, though. While a co-worker might have renamed her in honor of the famously devout modern nurse, she is a decidedly more approachable figure than the formidable Mother T.
Coworkers are excited about Schaff’s Golden Anniversary in nursing. “The basis for how she has worked as a nurse is to be a friend and be in touch with people. It’s always been that love and kindness and respect for other people,” said Mary Spengler, the former colleague who came up with the Mother Teresa monicker. In fact, it’s quite common for patients to ask and even insist on her presence.
Co-worker Judy Sealer certainly became a fan after Schaaf cared for her mother at God Samaritan. Sealer revealed, “She would be at the door welcoming new residents.” She also watched the veteran nurse offering comfort and bore witness to Schaaf’s gift for bedside nursing and ability to make residents feel more secure in her care. “She would hold their hands during death,” Said Sealer, who also noted her reassuring attendance at funerals, and, added that she was always available to comfort loved ones.
“Thank you, mother, for being here and taking care of us.”
Schaff is a “Dream team member,” says Millard Good Samaritan Society’s Vice President of Operations Aimee Middleton. Middleton added that residents regularly check to see whether the nurse who always looks out for them is on duty. According to Omaha.com, “One even refuses to do her daily exercise unless Schaaf walks with her,” and another resident says, ‘Thank you, mother, for being here and taking care of us,’ every time she helps him.”
And Schaff goes out of her way to help. She stays late when someone needs her special brand of comfort, runs grocery and necessity errands, and readily offers all sorts of attentions that loom large among residents who might otherwise feel isolated, ignored, and uncared for. They know that this nurse is 100% there for them.
Schaff seems to think it’s quite simple. “I’ve always tried to treat the residents like I would a family member and to be patient with them if they had concerns or anything,” she said. “I was always willing to sit down with them and listen to them.” And how on earth could she leave a job that doesn’t “really feel like it was a job.” She describes her workplace as “One big family. You got to know the residents’ families and it was just wonderful to be able to do that.”
See the full story on Mary Schaff’s upcoming golden nursing anniversary.
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