Jennifer Schalk, MBA, BSN, RN

Jennifer Matthews has been the nurse manager at UNC Hospice House for a little more than 2 years. She is an extremely knowledgeable and supportive nurse manager.

In the last year, our hospice house has been closed due to ongoing renovations. This closure was abrupt, and there have been many barriers in the last year that have been challenging and preventing the reopening of the house. In spite of the challenges, Jennifer continues to move forward with positivity. She embraces innovation and adaptability.

Our entire team has had to pivot multiple times, including a "temporary" years-long relocation at UNC Hillsborough Campus. Jennifer has had to be the guiding light for the team, navigating ongoing challenges and remaining the steady hand at the wheel. In the midst of the upheaval, Jennifer faced her own many-month-long serious health crisis, which she managed to recover from in the midst of all the professional uncertainty.

In this last year, although displaced from our home unit, our hospice services have improved. With the leadership of Jennifer, the hospice team acquired a heated humidified high flow oxygen device so that the hospice team is able to provide comfort weans for dying patients. We have expanded the services that hospice is able to provide, including establishing a hospice in the hospital program at UNC Hillsborough Campus and expanding the program at UNC Main.

Jennifer is a tireless supporter of her nursing team, the hospice vision, and has become an expert on HVAC systems and the care and upkeep of a complex hospice house. Jennifer does this all with a positive attitude and engages all those that she meets along the way with kindness and compassion.

Jennifer has proven to be an extraordinary nurse leader, and she is very much appreciated.