Good Sam is...
MY HOME AWAY FROM HOME
Sue Rose was born at Good Samaritan in 1947, just a year after her
father, William Matthews, returned from World War II. That day, Rosanne
Matthews gazed lovingly at her newborn baby girl and whispered,
“Someday, you will be a nurse.” Baby Sue must have been listening.
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ue entered the Good Samaritan Hospital School of Nursing in1965. She
lived in Regina Hall and Rosary Hall
for three years while attending classes
and working as a student nurse on
various units. After graduating in 1968, she began
working full time on a surgical floor for men. One
of the patients in that five-bed unit was Owen
Rose, the man destined to be the love of her life.
Sue and Owen recently celebrated 38 years of marriage.
“Good Sam has been my only
employer for almost 40 years,”
explains Sue, who currently
works in Diagnostic Imaging. “
And my family has made Good
Sam a family affair: My brother,
Bill, has worked for 31 years in
the Surgery Department; his
wife, Kay, is a nurse in Employee Health; and one son, a
grandson and a nephew are also
members of the Good Sam
family.”
Sue says she feels fortunate and
incredibly blessed to have
Good Samaritan Hospital such
a huge part of her life. “Working here, I have witnessed firsthand many changes in nursing
and medical care over the
years,” she explains. “Technology definitely changed the
methods we use to care for patients. Now computers quickly
process and retrieve specific patient information
and run devices like monitors and IV pumps. I recall the days when one nurse might have as many
as 20 IVs to regulate manually. Technology has not
decreased our workload though, because patient
acuity has increased.”
Sue says that one of her biggest nursing challenges
came in 1994 when her father was diagnosed with
Alzheimer’s disease. “I cared for him in our home
until his death in 1999. Leaning
on my faith and with my husband’s loving devotion, we made
it through that very difficult
time.” Sue believes that the excellent education she received at
Good Samaritan and her many
years of bedside nursing enabled
her to care for her father with
confidence. “For that, I am
deeply indebted to Good Sam,”
she says. “Little did my dad
know when he wrote those
checks to Good Samaritan Hospital School of Nursing that
someday he would reap the
benefits so intimately.”
“Over the years,” Sue continues,
“my relationship with Good
Samaritan has enriched me both
personally and professionally –
and continues to do so.The hospital goes deeper than the good
times or the bad times. It is, was
and always will be ‘home away
from home’ for me.”
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