Meet Melissa Samaroo, Registered Nurse at Michael Garron Hospital

Tell us about yourself!

Hi, my name is Melissa Samaroo and I am a Registered Nurse (RN). I am currently the Patient Safety and Quality Leader with the Organizational Quality and Safety team at Michael Garron Hospital (MGH).

What motivated you to join MGH?

Growing up in East York, it has always been important to me to support my community through volunteering and working at local businesses.

While I was a student in nursing school, I already knew that I wanted to work at my community hospital: MGH.

I was fortunate to be hired as a unit clerk in the former Critical Cardiac Unit/Medical Intensive Care Unit (CCU/MICU). This experience forever changed me for the better. I immediately knew that I wanted to work in a critical care setting. The care, camaraderie and professionalism I witnessed from the nursing team was amazing. I knew I wanted to be part of it.

What types of learning, mentorship or professional development opportunities have you had the opportunity to pursue since joining MGH?

MGH has always supported me throughout my career and with my professional growth.

• As a new graduate, MGH supported my success as a critical care nurse by enrolling me in the Critical Care program at Centennial College. I later consolidated my learning with the Advanced Cardiovascular Life Support program (ACLS) offered through MGH.
• MGH sponsored my certificate specializing in Critical Care through the Canadian Nurses Association, which I am proud to have maintained for over 15 years!
• When I transitioned to a leadership role, MGH again supported my success through the Leadership Excellence Essentials Program (LEEP). I was grateful for the one-on-one coaching sessions as they allowed me to tap into myself and find inner strengths to be a better leader to my colleagues and teams.
• I received further leadership development training at MGH through the Leadership Development for Leaders program.
• I have held various roles with the Joint Occupational Health and Safety Committee. I am a Certified Joint Occupational Health and Safety Member, sponsored by MGH through the Public Services Health and Safety Association. This training has allowed me to support MGH employees in maintaining a safe work environment.
• As Patient Safety and Quality Leader, I support MGH with risk management by reviewing patient incidents. I believe I am successful in this role because I have training as a Canadian Patient Safety Officer. This training was offered by MGH through the Canadian Patient Safety Institute (CPSI).
   

Can you share your career path at MGH?

2000: I was a nursing student and wanted to be part of my community hospital. I joined MGH as a unit clerk in the former CCU/MICU.

2002: Upon graduation, I was excited to be hired as an RN in the CCU/MICU. Getting the news that I was hired is one of my happiest memories!

I transitioned into this role with ease because I was supported by a great team of nurses who became role models to me. They always encouraged me to learn and experience as much as I could. It was with their words of encouragement and support that I stepped away from MGH in 2006 to further my experience in critical care.

2012: I came back to MGH as I heard the Cardiac Program was growing to include angioplasty. With my clinical expertise and knowledge in this area of cardiology, I was eager to support in a clinical role as an RN in the Cardiac Catherization Lab (CCL).

2013: There was a temporary position available as a patient care coordinator with the Outpatient Non-Invasive Cardiac Laboratory. I was strongly encouraged to apply by my peers as I had both knowledge and experience. As a temporary position, it allowed me to dip my toes into a leadership role while I maintained my skills on the frontlines.

Six months later, a permanent position as Supervisor for the Cardiology Integrated Unit (CIU) opened up. Again, I was strongly encouraged and supported by my peers, leadership and physician team to apply. I was nervous to leave bedside nursing, but I was excited for the opportunity. I knew I would be encouraging positive change and supporting my colleagues, patients and their families in this new role.

2018: After five years of being the Supervisor of CIU, CCL, Outpatient Non-Invasive Cardiac Labs, Pacemaker and Heart Function Clinics, I transitioned into the role of a manager. Within this role, I also oversaw the Ambulatory Medicine Clinics as well as the Medical Triage Clinic. This was a great experience as I learned about another area of patient care outside of cardiology. Meeting the nursing staff and clinical teams and seeing how the clinics ran in a patient-focused and caring way was really inspirational and a great reminder to always strive to do and be better.

2020: Due to my growing interests in patient and staff safety, I joined the Organizational Quality and Safety Department as the Patient Safety and Quality Leader.

With the support and training from my role as co-chair on the Joint Occupational Health and Safety Committee and my years as a frontline staff member and management; I felt that this was the right move at this phase of my career. I was very sad to leave the teams and staff that I was working with, but I knew that this was an opportunity to promote safety at MGH. I continue to keep in touch with those teams as they are constantly promoting a culture of safety and I happily help promote their work whenever I can.

What motivates or inspires you?

I have always been a helper and a doer my whole life. Nursing was a natural profession for me to pursue.

I find inspiration in helping others without expecting recognition in return. I find that this brings me great fulfillment.

I also find inspiration in the quote “Never put off until tomorrow what you can do today.” While this is typically associated with procrastination, I have found it meaningful to me in healthcare when supporting patients and their families.

Time in a medical institution can feel so much longer than it actually is. Seconds can feel like minutes and minutes can feel like hours. I ensure that I take the time to support patients and families in the moment and address their concerns. This way, after our conversation, they may have one less question to worry over, or it may give them the answers and ability to move forward in their journey. I continue to use this way of thinking on a daily basis throughout my career here at MGH.

If you could share one memorable moment from your time at MGH, what stands out to you?

My most memorable moment at MGH was during my first year of nursing. I was assigned to work night shifts during the Christmas holidays to care for a young woman who was unconscious and on life support. She had a young family and mother that would visit her daily and stay with her until visiting hours ended.

On Christmas Day, I had dinner with my family before going into work. My niece gifted me nail polishes in holiday colours and reminded me to not forget them as I packed my backpack and headed off to work.

As my shift started, I spoke to the mother of the patient. We chatted about our love for the holidays and I showed the gift that I received from my niece. The mother mentioned that her daughter loved nail polish, which prompted me to ask if I could help paint her daughter’s nails. The mother agreed and thought her daughter would love it, even if she could not see it.

That night, I painted my patient’s nails and spoke to her about how lovely they were. The following shifts of my night rotation were busy and I was very happy for time off the following week. When I returned back to work, I found out that my patient was well enough to be weaned off of the ventilator and was transferred to another unit.

A year later, I was in the middle of a shift when a young woman I did not recognize came up to me. She told me she knows me and that she recognized my voice.

“You were with me at Christmas and painted my nails. You spoke to me and told me stories of your day. You apologized when you saw me grimace and cheered me on when I moved my fingers and toes the smallest bit,” she said.

To say I was shocked and surprised is an understatement. The patient I cared for and the person standing in front of me looked like two different people. Gone were the IVs, tubes and beeping of machines. The person before me was bright, beautiful and vibrant. We had a wonderful conversation, which ended with hugs.

This is the most memorable moment to me. It was a great experience and teaching moment early on in my career. I learned that all of our actions have a ripple effect on others. Moving forward, I chose and continue to choose to make as many positive ripples as possible.