Supporting More Good Work

Mike Marshall, BSN, RN, CCRN, is a charge nurse in Shepherd Center’s Intensive Care Unit. He spends his days caring for patients and helping families process the trauma of a catastrophic accident or illness.

“I see the patients at their most fragile and the families just trying to put one foot in front of the other,” Marshall says. “At that moment, they can’t see that things can get better.”

Marshall says he tries to be encouraging by focusing on the positive and giving them hope without giving them false hope.

“I see them when they come in, I see them when they go home, and when they return later for an appointment at Shepherd,” he notes. “Working there has let me see firsthand the good work this hospital does.”

Several years ago, Marshall decided to include Shepherd Center in his estate plans. By doing this, he hopes he can help the hospital continue that good work even after he’s gone. He’s been a nurse at Shepherd Center for 20 years, nearly most of his career, and it’s become a special place for him.

“A good goal is to want your life to have meaning,” Marshall says, “to hope that you helped somewhere, that you made it better for someone. Most of the experiences where I’ve felt I’ve truly been able to make a difference and truly been able to help someone at their worst moments have been in my nursing career, and that has mostly been at Shepherd Center.”

Marshall appreciates Shepherd Center's holistic approach with patients, from patient care to recreational therapy to transitional services after they leave the hospital.

“This hospital is a place of hope for me,” he says. “There’s something special about it that is different from other hospitals. Shepherd Center takes the extra step to always do what’s best for the patient. Our focus is on quality of life.”

Written by Sara Baxter