“The job isn’t the IVs or wound dressings,” says Kassie Lopez, RN. “The job is the people, being there for them and connecting with them.”
In her 45 years as a nurse, Kassie has worked in almost every area of Massachusetts General Hospital, but it was on White 7, the surgical trauma unit, that she found her professional home. According to her colleagues, Kassie is the core of their community, the heart and soul of the floor. She has mentored dozens of new nurses over the years, serving as a consistent example of grace under pressure and true dedication to her work, greeting everyone with her signature, “Hi doll!” and a welcoming energy that says, “ask me anything.”
This year, Kassie turned 70, and to celebrate, the nurses on her floor threw her a surprise potluck birthday party. But that wasn’t the only surprise: Kassie arrived to find her colleagues all dressed in the same uniform she has worn for 45 years — a blue scrub dress, red vest and white knee-high compression socks, and they even wore curly gray wigs to match her hairstyle.
“I was so surprised,” she says. “We had a lot of fun. It’s important to bring joy to this job. It can be very hard and very sad, but we are all here for each other, every day.” Kassie and her fellow nurses call it the “White 7 Way”— an unwavering commitment to being there for each other, so that they can be there for their patients.
Practicing Patience and Understanding
“Nurses have the opportunity to really make a difference in someone’s life,” says Kassie. “We see our patients at their most afraid, in pain, frustrated and defeated, and we’re the part of the care team that really bears the responsibility of meeting them where they are and working to soothe their fears and discomfort.”
Kassie says they often form very close, deep relationships with patients — and that while that connection does not take away their pain, it helps, as evidenced by the many patients that come back to bring gifts of gratitude for their nursing team.
Jean Stewart, RN, nursing director of White 7 and a Mass General nurse for more than 30 years, notes that not only is Kassie extraordinarily patient and understanding even during the most complex and difficult clinical situations, she also extends that same grace to the new nurses she mentors.
“There’s a difference between being a preceptor and a true mentor,” Jean says. “Kassie takes these new nurses under her wing in every way and never makes them feel like they’re asking a dumb question or should already know how to do something. That goes such a long way in creating a strong community of nurses.”
According to Kassie, it’s easy to mentor new nurses at Mass General, because they are consistently smart and hardworking. Many of them receive world-class education in nursing and patient care at the Mass General Institute of Health Professions School of Nursing and the Mass General Nursing Transition to Practice Program, preparing them to step into their role as caregivers on day one.
Lifelong Mentorship
As a newly appointed nurse director, Jean credits the mentoring she received from Kassie for her career advancement. “She mentored me as a brand-new nurse here at Mass General, and we still keep in touch to this day. These are one-of-a-kind relationships that really last a lifetime, and Kassie provides that for so many of our new nurses. She’s a gem.”
“I love what I do,” Kassie says. “And the best way to get new nurses to care as much as I do, is to lead by example.”
Jean says that while all the nurses she’s worked with at Mass General are excellent nurses, not all of them possess the skillset to serve as a teacher and educator — but Kassie demonstrates those skills in spades.
Beth Donnelly, RN, who has known Kassie for more than 20 years and took the lead in planning her surprise birthday party, credits her with setting a high bar in providing exceptional patient care for those around her.
“She goes above and beyond every day, not only for her patients, but for us too,” Beth says. “It was almost impossible to pry her away from her patients for even 15 minutes to be interviewed for this story.”
