MADISON, Wis. – To kick off Nurses Week, UW Health is spotlighting a nurse in the Burn and Wound Center whose innovation has helped improve patient care, promote the profession on a global level and earned him the title “unofficial unit barber.”
Nursing is a special calling for Luke Markus and his family. His mother was a nurse, his grandmother was a certified nursing assistant, and he married a nurse, Jill Markus, who currently works at the pediatric specialty clinic at the UW-Madison Waisman Center.
Markus has been a burn unit nurse with UW Health since he graduated from college in 2004. For Markus, the burn unit has been a great fit because it is one of the few areas that cares for patients of all ages who need a wide range of care, he said.
“You develop relationships with patients, especially those with a longer stay,” Markus said. “It is rewarding to see a patient get discharged because there is a noticeable improvement.”
Markus’s passion for the burn unit and the patients there goes above and beyond to improve care provided by everyone at the center. Doctors and nurses often need to listen to patients’ hearts and lungs with stethoscopes through lots of layers of dressings. Markus noticed that it was difficult at times to hear with the current equipment, so he did research and worked with nursing leadership to get new, higher-quality stethoscopes for the unit.
“It was good for the staff and it was a tangible item that improved patient care for the unit,” he said.
Markus also took his passion for burn and wound care nursing beyond the unit when he worked with the American Burn Association to help develop the requirements for the world’s first burn nursing specialty certification, which was approved last year. This certification validates the advanced knowledge, expertise and specialty care needed to care for patients with burn wounds.
Better burn unit nurses contribute to better patient outcomes, he said.
“I was able to help write clinical competencies for the title, listing the skills needed to be a burn unit nurse,” he said. “It was great to collaborate with nurses across the country.”
One skill Markus has learned over the years isn’t specific to burn unit nursing, but it makes a big difference for patients. Most patients in the burn unit are male and have longer stays, so Markus often gives his patients haircuts.
“Everyone feels better with a haircut,” he said. “I like to say I am a licensed nurse and an unlicensed barber.”
Patients are grateful and often ask if they can pay Markus, but he says it is on the house.
After two decades of nursing, Markus enjoys coming to work and thinking of new ways to help his patients.
“Being a nurse is the best job in the world,” he said. “We often see patients at their very worst and helping them get better is the best feeling.”
National Nurses Week, which highlights and honors the contributions and sacrifices nurses make to keep the public safe and healthy, is held every year May 6-12.
