FOR GOING ABOVE & BEYOND
IN DECEMBER, WHEN WILSON JACOME CHECKED INTO MONMOUTH MEDICAL CENTER IN LONG BRANCH WITH COVID-19, HE HOPED TO BE OUT IN A FEW DAYS—IT DIDN’T HAPPEN. THE 57-YEAR-OLD ASBURY PARK RESIDENT TOOK A TURN FOR THE WORSE AND SPENT THE WINTER HOLIDAYS ISOLATED FROM HIS FAMILY.
But he wasn’t alone. “I had an angel,” he said. “An angel with no wings.” That was Yve Massre, a nurse who showered him with kindnesses. Massre called Jacome’s daughter to learn his favorite meal—steak and vegetables—then purchased an order from Jack’s Goal Line Stand sports bar in Long Branch and served it to him. She also gifted Jacome with a blanket and two sets of pajamas.
Massre, a 40-year-old mother of five who lives in West Long Branch, purchased all of this out of pocket. “The patients had nobody but us; we were their family,” Massre said. “It’s something you would do for a family member.”
Such gestures did not go unnoticed. In late August Massre earned a DAISY Award, which is national recognition for nursing excellence. The quarterly distinction has been awarded to dozens of New Jersey nurses so far this year, and Massre’s story shines a light on this most essential of professions.
“She just has an amazing spirit—powerful, caring and loving,” said Lauren Russo, a fellow nurse and the director of patient care for Massre’s unit. “She’s always going above and beyond, not only for her patients but for the team.”
POSITIVITY DURING A VERY DARK TIME
A stay-at-home mom for 15 years, Massre went back to school in her mid 30s, graduating from Brookdale Community College and New Jersey City University before landing a job at Monmouth Medical Center four years ago.
“I always wanted to help people and make people happy,” she said.
In March of 2020 her unit, Greenwall 5, became the hospital’s first COVID wing. “It was a really rough time, draining. Everyone was scared. There was no hiding the fear. Most of us were probably more afraid of bringing it home to our loved ones than getting it ourselves,” she said.
Trying to boost morale, Massre baked a steady stream of desserts for colleagues and handed out customized ID badges that resembled the coronavirus molecule.
“I did it for solidarity—to remind us what we’re fighting for,” she said. “That we’re fighting together.”
Russo added, “Things like that kind of unified her team with a lot of positivity in a very dark time.”
For her patients, Massre purchased and distributed small gifts based on their interests—crossword books, puzzles, cards and other knickknacks.
“She always took the time to wash my hair,” Jacome said. “When you’re sick and you have really nice people like Yve helping you, it is a motivation. It helps with your recuperation.”
Massre said the simplest things, like presenting a toothbrush or a pencil, moved some patients to tears. She added, “you might not think twice about it, but on that day, in that place, with the situation they’re in, the smallest act can be huge.”
Many people in her line of work are dealing with some form of post-traumatic stress disorder, Massre said, but the success stories remain the best medicine. Like when Jacome recovered and got discharged.
“I don’t know if he realized, but he sort of saved me,” she said. “When he got better and got discharged it was at a time when I needed to see something like that, because there was so much of the opposite.”
Nine months later, they remain in touch. “She has goodness and compassion,” Jacome said. “I say, ‘Thank you, G-d, for giving me Yve.’”
A DAUGHTER IN HER FOOTSTEPS
Massre’s children range in age from 8 to 21. She credits her husband Isaac’s support as she balances the demands of her profession with those of parenthood. Perhaps the surest sign of her devotion is that their oldest, Michelle, is a patient care assistant at Monmouth Medical Center.
“It shows Yve is an inspiration to her family as well,” Russo said. “He daughter is interested in pursuing health care because of the positive impact her mom makes.”
Massre attached a note with a quote that, in her estimation, tells the story of her unit during the pandemic.
“Crisis doesn’t create character. It reveals it.”
With the DAISY Award comes a small sculpture known as “Healer’s Touch,” which is hand-carved in Zimbabwe from Serpentine, a mineral rock. Massre had a replica made and placed it prominently at the nursing station on her hospital floor.
“I wanted to share it,” she said. “Everybody I’ve worked with deserved this recognition. The nursing excellence I’ve seen in the past year-and-a-half has been off the charts.
