The following article was written by Sonya Lester, BSN, RN, CCRN, Patient Services Manager III, Neurosurgical ICU.
Melissa Massenburg, BSN, RN, CCRN, was selected by the UNC Medical Center nursing leadership as a UNCMC Nurse of the Year. She was nominated by nursing staff colleagues to honor her for exceptional service over the past year. The Nurse of the Year award was established to recognize nurses who consistently exemplify excellence in customer service, communication, safety, professionalism, innovation, stewardship, and support of the nursing profession. There were 12 Nurse of the Year awards celebrated in 2024 throughout the organization. Jillian Cosgrove, MSN, RN, CCRN was awarded the Nurse of the Year award in 2022.
The following was read during Melissa’s award presentation during the Nursing Staff Recognition Ceremony:
Melissa is the epitome of ONE GREAT TEAM. Whether in staffing, on a project, or part of a committee, she always gives 110% effort. She has been the co-chair/chair of the Diversity Council for Surgery from 2020-2023, member of house-wide Professional Development Council, is an active member of the Shared Governance for Surgery Services and leads multiple unit level committees. She is a rockstar charge nurse, taking care of her own patients and helping everyone else. When in admin, she comes out of her office all the time to help staff on the floor with an issue or a busy shift. She always puts others before self, and if she is working you always know she has your back.
She also demonstrates our value; IT STARTS WITH ME every single day. She is the schedule queen, and works daily to fill holes, make trades and swaps, and even fills in holes herself. She works so hard to make sure the team has the help and resources needed. If that means staffing 3-4 shifts in a week, she does it for her team, on top of her admin duties. No matter how busy she is, she still meets all deadlines and never makes excuses. She speaks up and provides feedback to improve the practices of her teammates and helps to coach them to be the best at their role. She started in the NSICU as an HUC and then CST, and she helps to oversee these roles on the unit and has a great perspective on the roles and the expectations. She doesn’t expect anyone to do anything she would not do herself.
She is a dependable, loyal, fair, caring, hard-working, and overall amazing nurse and leader, and is very deserving of this award!