His care leads to $3 million for scholarships

Inside UCHealth Memorial Hospital Central’s rehabilitation unit, charge nurse Zeljko Paunic has built a reputation for providing compassionate patient care as well as for personal attention to details that others might miss.

He’s known on the unit as “Mr. Clean,” the charge nurse who when visiting a patient’s room will wipe down a tray table or sink, refill water or offer a blanket, tasks usually delegated to other staff members.

“It makes the patient, and me, feel better to have that little bit of extra care,” the veteran nurse said recently. “It’s just who I am.”

He also uses these opportunities to get to know his patients on a more personal basis, helping reduce the loneliness and anxiety that can come with a hospital admission.

Though he downplays the work he does, Paunic’s extraordinary care led one of his patients, a former nurse, to build a scholarship program to inspire future nurses to follow in his footsteps. This former patient, Helen Clement, was so inspired by Paunic’s care that she opted to donate more than $3 million to nursing scholarships.

Clement, or “Miss Helen,” as Paunic calls her, completed her training as part of a federal government program designed to alleviate a WWII nurse shortage. She worked in operating rooms, emergency rooms, nursing homes, college campuses and a federal prison during her career. Paunic and Clement bonded over the shared experience of nursing school and patient care as she recovered from hip surgery. They remain close, with Paunic considering Clement part of his extended family.

“Helen paid for the rest of my nursing school, and I’ve been a charge nurse working on the same unit of the same floor now for 15 years,” Paunic said. “Through the care I give to my patients, I’m trying to give back and share the wonderful and unexpected opportunity Miss Helen gave back to me and blessed me with.”

Paunic traces his penchant for cleaning, compassion, and work ethic to his mother, a now retired Memorial Hospital environmental services worker, and strong Memorial Hospital mentors. His mother introduced him to the nurses on the unit she cleaned, the same unit where he now works. That childhood introduction led to work as a volunteer at the hospital escorting visitors, earning a CNA license while still in high school and to a Memorial Hospital-sponsored nursing scholarship to the University of Colorado Colorado Springs. He worked as a part-time CNA at Memorial while attending nursing school, moving to a full-time nursing position after earning his BSN. For the past three years he’s worked as a night charge nurse, supervising other nurses while still managing care for four to five patients during his 12-hour shift.

Just as he did with Miss Helen, Paunic strives to make a personal connection with each patient, spending extra time getting to know them and doing his part to help them recover and return to their extraordinary lives outside the hospital.