Susanne Allison
December 2014
Susanne
Allison
,
ADN, RN, CHPN
Palliative Care
Vidant Medical Center
Greenville
,
NC
United States

 

 

 

Susanne is known as "the singing nurse" who uses her beautiful voice to provide calm and comfort for our patients and families in Palliative Care. This was remembered by one of our NICU nurses who cared for an infant in the Butterfly Room. She remarked to me that Susanne's singing helped provide pain relief to her dying grandparent. She stated that her family, now years later, still talks about "the singing nurse" who provided such compassionate care that made all the difference in a very difficult time.

As our only certified nurse in Hospice and Palliative nursing, Susanne mentors and imparts her knowledge and expertise to all of the staff on PCU. She uses each opportunity she gets to teach and promote best practice. She doesn't limit her teaching to the nursing staff. She has served as a resource for pain management to the physician staff as well.

Susanne also serves as our pain and skin quality nurse, regularly performing audits and reporting on the findings at staff meetings and daily huddles. She does all of this at the young age of 72, and she doesn't even consider retiring because nursing is her passion.