Print Issue: November 14, 2002

DeKalb Medical Honors STM Parishioner For 50 Years Of Nursing

New nursing graduate Colleen Coffman honored at DeKalb Medical Center for her years of service.

DECATUR - St. Thomas More parishioner Colleen Tallent Coffman, a registered nurse at DeKalb Medical Center, was honored in for 50 years of nursing service, 29 at the DeKalb hospital.

In front of 120 family members and friends, John Gerlach, CEO of the hospital, presented an award to Coffman, a coronary care and cardiac rehabilitation nurse, for customer service excellence last February. A plaque commemorating her service will be the first to hang in the hospital's "Hall of Fame."

Inspired by a friend's mother, who was a nurse, Coffman, a Texas native, attended St. Paul's School of Nursing in Dallas. Upon graduating, Coffman worked in the polio ward at Parkland Hospital, the hospital which received President John F. Kennedy when he was shot in 1963. Working in the polio ward was an "awesome experience," Coffman said.

Later, Coffman took a job in industrial nursing. However, she said, fingers that had been cut off, broken bones and assorted injuries were not her "cup of tea," and after marrying her husband, Bob, the two moved to San Antonio. In San Antonio, Coffman worked for Dr. John Harland, who cared for actor John Wayne while he was making the movie "The Alamo," in Bracketville, Texas.

The Coffmans then moved to Houston, where Colleen worked on a team supporting Dr. Denton Cooley, the renowned heart surgeon, at St. Luke's Episcopal Hospital.

"Here is where my passion for cardiac care began," she said.

In 1968, the Coffmans moved to Atlanta and she began work at the DeKalb Medical Center.

In 1987, realizing that a telephone call to discharged heart patients was not enough follow-up, Coffman organized and founded "The Heart Mates," a support group that meets monthly with an attendance of 40 to 50 patients. Now in its 16th year, "The Heart Mates" is regarded as the best support group for information on strokes, heart attacks, cardiomyopathy, heart transplants and all related heart surgeries and the medication needed for life after a heart attack or heart surgery.

Coffman said her faith has been strengthened by the members of the group, particularly one man.

"Kurt Grantham who had not one, but two heart transplants (is our most outstanding patient-member)," she said. "Not being enough stress on Kurt, the fickle finger of fate shoved it to him again. A drunk driver last October, in a small pick-up, crossed the center line and crashed head-on into Kurt's new big Ford pick-up. Its driver was killed and Kurt's injury to his left leg was so severe it was amputated above the knee."

Coffman said she has been inspired by Grantham's positive attitude. Grantham, 60, still works full time and often speaks to church and support groups.

One of Coffman's new passions is the recruitment of young men and women to nursing careers, as the medical field is suffering a critical shortage of nurses. Coffman believes that this shortage is responsible for stress, not enough pay and loss of respect for the nursing profession.