Good Neighbor Podcast: Pittsburgh

E79: Matchmaking for Healthcare: How Compassionate Care Unlimited Connects the Right Nurses to the Right Facilities

• Leila Carter & Melissa Six • Episode 79

Share episode

What makes Melissa Six with Compassionate Care Unlimited a good neighbor? 

The nursing shortage crisis affects virtually every healthcare setting, but Melissa Six of Compassionate Care Unlimited offers a refreshingly human-centered solution. Rather than treating nurses as interchangeable parts, her organization functions as a specialized matchmaker, connecting facilities with nurses whose specific skills, temperaments, and preferences align perfectly with each environment's unique needs.

"Each nurse has a unique gift," Melissa explains, drawing from her own background as a healthcare professional. She compares the matching process to assembling puzzle pieces that fit together precisely, rather than forcing connections that weren't meant to be. This thoughtful approach challenges the widespread industry misconception that simply holding a nursing license qualifies someone for any nursing position. As she aptly points out, that would be like assuming a regular driver's license qualifies someone to operate an 18-wheeler.

The conversation reveals the harsh realities facing today's nurses, who often work without breaks, proper meals, or even bathroom opportunities during their shifts. Beyond the professional demands, nurses rarely escape their caregiving role even in personal settings—family gatherings frequently turn into impromptu medical consultations. Melissa's organization stands out by recognizing these pressures and prioritizing relationships over transactions. She believes that properly supporting nurses creates a positive ripple effect: "When you take care of the nurse, then the nurse is going to go out there and give beautiful care."

Looking for a way to support healthcare in your community? Melissa suggests starting with simple appreciation. A quick call or message thanking the nurses in your life acknowledges their challenging work and reminds us all that local healthcare facilities—from hospitals to school nursing offices—form an essential foundation of community wellbeing. Ready to learn more about this innovative approach to the nursing shortage? Visit CompassionateCarePA.com and discover how the right matches create better outcomes for everyone involved.

To learn more about Compassionate Care Unlimited go to: 

https://compassionatecarepa.us/

Compassionate Care Unlimited

(724)413-5177


Speaker 1:

This is the Good Neighbor Podcast, the place where local businesses and neighbors come together. Here's your host, Lila Carter.

Speaker 2:

Welcome to the Good Neighbor Podcast. Are you in need of a viable solution to the nursing shortage? One might be closer than you think. Today I have the pleasure of introducing your good neighbor, melissa Six, with Compassionate Care Unlimited Melissa how's it going? It's going well, Lila. Thank you for having me. Thanks for being here. We're excited to learn all about you and your business. Please tell us more about your organization. Please tell us more about your organization.

Speaker 3:

Our organization works with facilities long-term care facilities, hospitals, schools basically any entity that you can think of that would need a nurse. We can supply nurses to them, and our nurses are a unique group. They are nurses that are highly seasoned. They're independent in their careers, so we like to empower and equip them to fit into the right environments, which makes us much different than the other entities or supplemental suppliers that are in the marketplace today.

Speaker 2:

Excellent. How did you get into this business, Melissa?

Speaker 3:

I'm glad you asked. I am a nurse by trade and at heart, and I think that you know that will probably always be because I'm very passionate about the field and the profession in general. It was by accident that I ended up in this marketplace, solving this problem. To make a long story short, I had, very early in my career, really never had a buy-in to why we would ever need supplemental staff. I thought this is crazy. Every place should just find nurses that they like to work with and you know that that would be the way to go about it and that that would be how you acquire the best nurses. However, you know, healthcare is complex and healthcare is, you know, always changing and so are the needs of the healthcare workers. So I find that the best way to get, you know, highly skilled, qualified, wonderful care is to have an organization like ours who can be the middleman and who can work out what each party wants and what each party needs to thrive and to be able to provide the best care.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, you're like a matchmaker for these angels that people really need in these times, so thank you for the work that you're doing here. So what are some myths, or maybe misconceptions, in your industry? Any specific ones you'd like to talk about today? Any?

Speaker 3:

specific ones you'd like to talk about today. Sure, I mean, there are lots of myths around our profession and I think one of the biggest one is probably affordability that if you're offering such a tremendous service that it wouldn't be affordable and you know we really like to educate on that and explain to our clients that we work with that there's more involved than the bottom line and that included in your bottom line there are a lot of costs that come with employees and turnover and all of the things that happen in healthcare that unfortunately become a waste, because I think one of the biggest myths is that you can just plug any nurse into any arena and that is certainly a recipe for disaster. Each nurse has a unique gift, if you will. For instance, there are nurses that are wonderful in pediatrics but they don't work so well, maybe, with the elderly. Or there are nurses that work in mental health that really don't have the qualities that it takes to succeed as a mental health nurse. We each have, you know, maybe the same clinical skills, but those other areas definitely have to be addressed to make sure that you can succeed.

Speaker 3:

You know there's so many different moving parts to what a nurse does and for it to be successful, not only for the nurse but the entity that's requiring them to have a nurse. You know, both ends really have to line up perfectly, like I think of it as in putting a puzzle together. We would never take a puzzle and just not worry about where the edges are or what two pieces go together and say, well, because they're puzzle pieces, we'll just make them fit. That's insanity. So we really have to look at healthcare and healthcare providers in the same way that there's two pieces of a puzzle that are gonna fit together beautifully, perfectly and exactly how they were meant to work out. So we're kind of like the master of finding those two puzzle pieces that sit together perfectly.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, and it's not so cut and dry with nursing. I think you know with the doctor, okay, they're specialized in this. You know, with nurses, it's like it's so much more about where their specialty is that they find kind of throughout their career path right, and so the fact that you're kind of helping people see through the fog with that and like understand, like, okay, where is this nurse really going to provide the most value, I think that is so special and unique to your company. So, as we think of marketing as the heart of any business, who are your target customers and how do you attract them to the company?

Speaker 3:

Yeah, I'm glad you asked our target customers again is really anyone that is a facility. We don't do in-home care or that sort of thing, but any place that's a facility. We provide mental health, mhmr communities with nurses, long-term care, assisted living hospitals, schools, living hospitals, schools almost any area that you can think of that is required to have a nurse. Some factories have an occupational health nurse on site. We can do those type of things. We do clinics at times where maybe you only need a nurse for a certain period of time to do vaccines or you know a specific thing.

Speaker 3:

And I think what attracts and what markets us is the value that we add to any organization and the fact that we will tailor a contract and an agreement to exactly, again, what both parties are seeing. So we can be very specific in coming to an agreement that's going to work out for both parties, to make sure that the need is filled and that we have the highest success rate for a good outcome, which is different than, you know, a lot of our competitors A lot of times. You know, in this space particularly, it has become again a little bit robotic like hey, if you have a nursing license you can work anywhere and that, quite frankly, just isn't our. That's not our approach whatsoever. I've seen, you know, a lot of things go wrong in that kind of approach because, again, just because someone holds a license, it would almost be like saying, because I have a driver's license, that I can go out and get on a motorcycle or drive a 18 wheeler.

Speaker 2:

It's like no, there's more to it than just the fact that you know the basics about providing something Right and a lot of the business owners that you work with, I'm sure they don't have the time to get into all the nitty gritty details of each nurse's background and researching who would fit them best. I mean, they know what they need, right, they know what they need out of a nurse, but they don't know necessarily how to ask the right questions to uncover, necessarily the background about each person that they'd be hiring in order to discover if they are the right fit. So I love that value add. And, as we're thinking about people who need the service that you're offering here, have you ever thought about reaching them through doing a podcast of your own?

Speaker 3:

We have actually it's been a big talking point for probably about the last 18 months. We've thought about the amount of not only for our clients but also for the nurses that we're serving. You know nurses are facing a that is public service driven firefighters, police officers, first responders. You know our troops. I think a lot of them sometimes feel like they're, they're in this silo in our communities now, and I think a podcast would be a really great way to reach groups of people who need to not feel alone in these things and that now more than ever, you not only have the demands of this selfless service industry that you're in, but you have the demands of you know what it takes being that person in your household or in your family A lot of times. You know you can't go to a family reunion if you're a nurse without somebody saying, hey, let me show you this, or hey, can you look at this, or hey, I've been having these symptoms, can you help me work through this? So it's almost like you're never off duty and it's. You know, I think about it. It's probably the same for police officers and, you know, firefighters and anybody again that's serving the community in a really beautiful way.

Speaker 3:

I think we need something such as a podcast that can reach those individuals and make them know that they're not alone.

Speaker 3:

And unfortunately in our jobs there's a shortage happening.

Speaker 3:

So we used to be able to fill that gap with each other on our lunch break or you know, a couple minutes that you have to spare in between taking care of your patients, but unfortunately, due to the shortage, that time isn't there anymore. I mean, it's very common that nurses don't even have time to use the bathroom or nourish themselves properly or hydrate throughout their shift, because they are just from the time they clock in till the time they walk out. It's like go, go, go. So I think a podcast would be a really beautiful way to be able to reach, you know, nurses and other individuals in the healthcare sector as well, but also to reach upper level management. I think your point was about reaching them in terms of marketing, but I think that's become a little bit of a hard feat as well. Most of the time we find that they're reaching out to us and we have calls every day requesting nurses, and what I hear time and time again from these individuals is they don't have a moment to spare to even know what they need.

Speaker 2:

Right, they just know there's a gap. Yeah that they need to fill that gap, yeah.

Speaker 3:

And then that's the part that's so beautiful about what we offer. Something else that we offer that is really important to us is the relationship itself. Somebody has to be nurturing these relationships. It's like having a garden no-transcript. These beautiful professionals feel like you don't even know me. I've maybe worked here for five or 10 years and you don't even know that I'll never work a night shift, and that's just one example, right? But you know it comes back to relationships. I think really caring about people, and when you take care of the nurse, then the nurse is going to go out there and give beautiful care.

Speaker 2:

Absolutely. That's great insight. It's taking care of the givers, who are always giving to others. So, outside of work, what do you do for fun, melissa? Oh my goodness.

Speaker 3:

I do all kinds of crazy things for fun. I'm highly involved in the community. I love to give back. I love to find fun ways. We like to go to football games. That's something we like to do. We also like to just get involved in community projects and ways to give back. So my favorite thing is just making sure that we leave things a little better off than what we find them. I was kind of raised that way, so it you know anything that I can do, that my hands are in it and we're improving something. That's really where my passion is.

Speaker 2:

Well, your business is absolutely doing that, and thank you for the time that you're spending on the community and helping people that way. So, melissa, please tell our listeners one thing that should stick with them about Compassionate Care Unlimited.

Speaker 3:

I think the thing I'd like to stick with listeners would be that at Compassionate Care, it's important for us to care for the caregivers and if you know a nurse, please just be kind to them, thank them. Find some small way, even if it is just hey, pick up the phone. And if you know a nurse, please just be kind to them, thank them. Find some small way, even if it is just hey, pick up the phone and say I was thinking of you today and thank you for what you do. I recognize that your job is hard and I think we all should think about the fact that health care in our communities is important. So our local hospitals are important. The local places that are able to care for our seniors are important. So our local hospitals are important. The local places that are able to care for our seniors are important. School nurses are important. So really just thinking about how, how important healthcare in our communities are.

Speaker 2:

And how can our listeners learn more about Compassionate Care Unlimited?

Speaker 3:

They can go to our website. Our website is CompassionateCarePAcom.

Speaker 2:

Excellent. Well, Melissa, I very much appreciate your time today and having you as a guest on the show. We wish you and your business the best moving forward.

Speaker 3:

Thank you for having me on the show, appreciate it.

Speaker 1:

Thank you for listening to the good neighbor podcast. To nominate your favorite local businesses to be featured on the show, go to gnppittsburghcom. That's gnppittsburghcom, or call 412-561-9956.