VA Maryland Health Care System

Local VA Maryland Health Care System Nurse Earns Congressional Volunteer Award

Masse plays piano for veterans at the Baltimore VA Rehabilitation and Extended Care Center while they eat breakfast..

August 15,2008

Lydie Masse, a resident of Baltimore and nurse at the Baltimore Veterans Affairs (VA) Rehabilitation & Extended Care Center, a division of the VA Maryland Health Care System, was recently awarded the 2008 Congressional Volunteer Recognition Award by Congressman C.A. Dutch Ruppersberger and the 2nd Congressional District of Maryland’s Veterans Advisory Council.

As stated in the Congressional record: “Her gentle, friendly manner endears her to her patients, and whenever she plays music, encouraging them to join in, a sense of good will pervades the room and brightens the day of many of her patients.”
When asked what the award meant to her, Masse humbly stated, “I am touched by the acknowledgement. It inspires me to do more.”

Masse works as a hospice nurse on the night shift at the Baltimore VA Rehabilitation & Extended Care Center. Each day when her shift is over, Masse stays to accompany her patients to breakfast where she plays the piano as breakfast is being served, encouraging patients to sing along.

Her fellow workers and volunteers say they appreciate how her music improves the quality of life among the patients. Masse admits to coming in to play the piano sometimes on her day off. “The patients like it,” she says with a smile. “It’s calming to them.”