WAYNE AND CONNIE SPEARS INTENSIVE CARE UNIT

The past several years have been challenging for the Wayne and Connie Spears Intensive Care Unit (ICU) team as it faced multiple waves of COVID-19 patients in the hospital. Through it all, the team emerged stronger, with many staff members continuing their nursing education and receiving additional certifications.

In 2022, the unit cared for 50 open heart surgery patients, saved 14 lives through organ donation and 675 lives through tissue donation and restored eyesight for 13 patients through cornea donation.

The unit is currently working on charge and resource nurses’ training in ultrasound guided IVs.

For Kathy Brady, RN, BSN, a career in nursing was preordained.

“I come from a large family of nurses and doctors, and I realized early on that I’m sort of a ‘natural nurturer.’ I like taking care of people and nursing seemed like a perfect fit.” It’s why she’s spent three decades working in Intensive Care Units (ICUs).

For the last 15 years, Brady has been a senior clinical registered nurse in Henry Mayo’s ICU where she’s the relief charge nurse. In addition to caring for trauma, stroke, heart attack and surgical patients, she oversees the unit’s nurse education and training, particularly in open-heart surgery recovery. She also serves as a rapidresponse nurse.

“We see people at their lowest moment and help them get through it,” says Brady, who was also a charge nurse in the COVID unit and was the first hospital employee to be vaccinated against the virus. “Watching patients and families get better and knowing you’re part of that is very gratifying.”

Accomplishments Intensive Care Unit

“We’ve weathered the storms of COVID and I think we're a very resilient team that collaborates well with physicians, nurses and respiratory therapists. There's something to be said about working with a team you can trust. I've found that people who have left the unit eventually come back. They recognize this is a great place to work.”