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Programs
Schwartz Center Rounds
Clinical Pastoral Education
Compassionate Caregiver Award
Patient Initiative
CarePages Partnership
Speaker Series
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Helen Mullen has devoted her 25-year nursing career to caring for sick children. In the outpatient pediatric ambulatory clinic at UMass Memorial Medical Center, Helen greets each child with a special smile which comes from an endless reserve of strength and hope. Among her colleagues, Helen is known as a truly compassionate caregiver who works long past her required hours, organizes support groups and makes house calls. A physician who works closely with Helen said, "She is there to hold the hand of a child undergoing a painful procedure or hearing painful news; she also joyfully attends a survivor's piano recital or high school graduation." Family members, grief stricken when they hear their young one is diagnosed with cancer, are relieved when they see Helen: For a moment, they can relax, knowing their child is in Helen's gentle and competent hands.
Helen's greatest fans are her young patients. She can seamlessly bond with any child, no matter age or gender. Says one eleven-year-old girl, "Every time I see her we talk about just anything. Helen and I are GREAT friends!"
The eldest of five children, Helen took on a maternal role in her family. She says her parents taught her "compassion, sensitivity, and caring by example." During her senior year of high school, she was selected to participate in a nursing course which allowed her to work in a hospital environment every Friday during the school year. While enrolled in St. Vincent's School of Nursing, Helen worked in a nursing home, beginning in the food services department. Graduating with a registered nursing degree, she immediately started working with children.
Helen recounts the story of how she helped fulfill the wishes of a sixteen-year-old girl dying of cancer. She remembers: "She knew she was going to die, but that was not what she feared most. She was afraid she would disappoint her siblings because she might not be able to shop for Christmas before she died." Helen was concerned that her patient didn't have the energy to make it through the shopping trip. However, she arranged for an ambulance to pick the young girl up at the hospital where she had been for one month and accompanied her to a local department store. Once back in the ambulance, the girl announced that she was not finished shopping and now needed to go to the mall. The next day, she slipped into a coma and died peacefully three days later. For Helen, this was a truly wonderful Christmas, knowing that she helped fulfill her patient's final wishes.
Helen always has a twinkle or a tear in her eye; sometimes it's hard to tell. She knows she must display a calm exterior when surrounded by children facing the unknown, but she is clearly moved by her experiences in nursing. Helen is humble and considers her work "not as a job, but as a vocation; a gift given to me by God." Indeed, it took some cajoling to get Helen to accept the nomination for the award. When she told her good friend, a priest, about her hesitation, the priest explained that Helen would be giving people a chance to thank her for her extraordinary care. That alone convinced her to accept with the caveat, "The biggest award is thinking that patients and families lives have been touched by my presence as a nurse."
Helen says that going through the process of receiving the Compassionate
Caregiver Award has renewed her as a caregiver. "It helped me reflect
on the last 25 years and allowed me to think about the next 25 years."
Helen has affected so many people with whom she has come in contact.
Compelling testimony comes from a young girl who survived cancer under
Helen's care. In her words, "I looked forward to every single chemotherapy
visit knowing that I was seeing Helen one more time. Helen has this
radiance around her which just lights up the room... It is because
of what she's shown me that I know I must follow in her footsteps.
I am a second-year nursing student at Worcester State College. My
goal is to become a pediatric oncology nurse. I want to give to other
children what Helen's given me: smiles laughter, faith and most importantly,
hope."
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Visit the Schwartz Center's newest patient-centered initiative at CarePages, where patients, families and friends create free online support communities...