© 2013 Martha C. Gooding Foundation - All Rights Reserved
In Martha's Own Words
These are excerpts from a beautiful letter Martha wrote to family and friends shortly before losing her courageous battle with metastatic colon cancer:
“I was privileged to work almost 40 years as a critical care nurse, a profession I dearly love and hope I have positively impacted. Indeed with our shared governance “family” of experienced nurses at Seton NW ICU, we gave the best, most professional, compassionate yet evidence-based care to our patients.
We saw patients and families at the worst possible times of their lives and tried to help them through. By being the eyes and ears of the doctor, we could touch and assess our patients to catch subtle changes before they turned into a major crisis for the patient.
I accomplished all I wanted to do in nursing. As a team, the staff nurses of the Seton NW ICU attained Beacon status, the highest award for a critical care unit. I was privileged to make 7 poster presentations with Rosanne and Janet and Marti at the National Teaching Institute critical care conference and to learn the latest developments in nursing care.
I was honored to be named Seton’s critical care nurse of the year and especially proud to be selected as one of the Fabulous 5 nurses of Central Texas. The highlight, though, is to have my beloved niece Amanda following in my footsteps as a compassionate RN.
While I am proud of my nursing career and achievements and to have been an RN, BSN, And CCRN, my proudest titles are Wife, Mother, Sister, Aunt, and Friend.
So you see I have had a charmed life. While I hoped to grow old with John, travel more, and just spend time together with John and precious family and friends, it’s not in the cards.
Be happy for all the wonderful times I have had with you. Celebrate my life and yours. I will always be with you in spirit. I thank each of you for enriching my life.”
I will love you always,
Martha
“I was privileged to work almost 40 years as a critical care nurse, a profession I dearly love and hope I have positively impacted. Indeed with our shared governance “family” of experienced nurses at Seton NW ICU, we gave the best, most professional, compassionate yet evidence-based care to our patients.
We saw patients and families at the worst possible times of their lives and tried to help them through. By being the eyes and ears of the doctor, we could touch and assess our patients to catch subtle changes before they turned into a major crisis for the patient.
I accomplished all I wanted to do in nursing. As a team, the staff nurses of the Seton NW ICU attained Beacon status, the highest award for a critical care unit. I was privileged to make 7 poster presentations with Rosanne and Janet and Marti at the National Teaching Institute critical care conference and to learn the latest developments in nursing care.
I was honored to be named Seton’s critical care nurse of the year and especially proud to be selected as one of the Fabulous 5 nurses of Central Texas. The highlight, though, is to have my beloved niece Amanda following in my footsteps as a compassionate RN.
While I am proud of my nursing career and achievements and to have been an RN, BSN, And CCRN, my proudest titles are Wife, Mother, Sister, Aunt, and Friend.
So you see I have had a charmed life. While I hoped to grow old with John, travel more, and just spend time together with John and precious family and friends, it’s not in the cards.
Be happy for all the wonderful times I have had with you. Celebrate my life and yours. I will always be with you in spirit. I thank each of you for enriching my life.”
I will love you always,
Martha
September 20, 2012
Martha C. Gooding Foundation For Compassionate Nursing