Colleague Spotlight: Claire Schneider

For more than 115 years, Swedish Medical Center has been a Hampden Avenue landmark. The community of Englewood and the surrounding areas have been turning to Swedish not only for exceptional healthcare, but also for career opportunities. The team culture at Swedish is storied and unique: many of our colleagues were born at the hospital or have family history of employment. Below, we'd like to share a little bit about one of our amazing colleagues who is committed to our patients and community.

Claire Schneider is a Clinical Nurse Coordinator on our Surgical Specialty Unit. Her colleagues and patients consistently celebrate her compassionate care. We wanted to share a moving, unedited testimonial we recently received from a patient’s family about Claire’s healing touch: 

“My mom was admitted to the 9th floor on March 15th, 2024. After a week of tests, challenging conversations and heartbreaking discoveries, my mom was transitioned into hospice care. I'm writing today to celebrate an exceptional professional who walked alongside our family as we navigated this unimaginable difficult time. Claire Schneider is an angel on Earth and has been an exemplar nurse; artfully balancing empathy with professionalism, consistently going above and beyond to make sure my mom's care is top notch while also ensuring my dad and I feel cared for, informed, and empowered as decision makers. Here are just a FEW examples of how Claire blew us away during our 4-week stay: 

1. During a rapid response, she engaged me in the process of treating my mom to hold the oxygen mask on her and talk to her. This made me feel useful and engaged and allowed me to be close to mom in a really, really scare and life-changing moment. Claire made me feel like an important part of the team.
2. Post PET scan, when mom was dry-heaving, Claire brought us peppermint oil-soaked gauze to hold by mom- what a creative way to treat a symptom outside of the traditional medical paradigm. Uniquely brilliant!  
3. Even when Claire was not working, she checked in with staff to make sure we were taken care of (I know boundaries are important and so does she), even sending dad and I comfort trays.
4. Claire flawlessly coordinated mom's complex care, making sure all Swedish staff and hospice staff were informed and collaborating well- such an underrated skill in this field!
5. Claire printed out copies of my mom's heartbeat for my dad and I. There are no words that are sufficient in describing how much this gesture and all of the love and care Claire gave us means to my family. 

We are eternally grateful for Claire's compassion, creativity, dedication, proactive approach and deep empathy in her treatment of my family as we endured the last excruciating weeks of my mama's life. Mom loved Claire and dad and I consider her a part of our family now. Please celebrate Claire in the way she deserves!”