Never Interrupting the Peace: Worlanyo’s Personal Policy of Kindness
Worlanyo Matsakawo is a Community Palliative Nurse at VHA Home HealthCare (VHA) who joined in 2018 as an opportunity to expand her nursing knowledge and focus on providing care in the community. Worlanyo’s warm personality makes her stand out amongst others. The care and dedication she brings to her clients reflects her grace, patience, and open heart as a nurse.
Worlanyo is one of 5 VHA nurses who were nominated for the 2026 Hospital News Nursing Hero Awards. The Nursing Hero Awards started in 2005 to honour and thank extraordinary nurses across Canada. In honour of celebrating Nursing Week at VHA, we are proud to highlight each of our nurses who received a nomination.
The beginnings of Worlanyo’s nursing career are a testament to her relentless drive for professional learning and development. As a student, Worlanyo began her studies enrolled in a Health Care Aid program in Toronto. From there, she pursued an RPN certificate immediately afterwards. That’s when she began her preceptorship at a local hospital, but she didn’t stop there. “While I was working for the Veteran’s Centre at Sunnybrook, I was working as an RPN. I went back to school again to do my diploma as an RN,” Worlanyo recalls. “And once I got my RN diploma, I went back and I got my Bachelor of Science in Nursing.”
Equipped with years of education and a passion for nursing, Worlanyo had an unwavering commitment to her profession from the very beginning.
Spreading Her Wings to Home Care
Before her time with VHA, Worlanyo spent an amazing 19 years at Sunnybrook Hospital. Her experiences at Sunnybrook shaped her into the compassionate nurse she is today. For 14 years, she cared for cancer patients within the Surgical Oncology program. She also spent 5 years caring for Canada’s veterans through their Veterans’ Centre. These experiences are where her deep passion for palliative care first began, but a call to caring for people in their own spaces is what eventually drew Worlanyo to VHA.
“With Surgical Oncology, you don’t necessarily see them from the beginning to the end. They just come for surgery, stay 2-3 days to recover, and then they go home and you don’t see them again,” she explains.
When Worlanyo left the hospital, it was to expand her horizons. She saw it as an opportunity to spread her wings and explore new ways to apply her experiences. She wanted to provide a sense of peace to her clients where they needed it most – in their homes – and form long-term bonds with the people she was providing care for. Home care allowed her to have that connection with her clients.
As a palliative nurse with VHA, Worlanyo has had the privilege of caring for a range of clients, from young adults to seniors reaching over 100 years of age. While many of her clients are fighting cancer, her focus is never solely on the disease, but on the person living with it. She treats every visit as an opportunity to bring comfort and peace to her clients.
As described by her supervisor Joyce Umoren, “Nurse Worlanyo is an exceptional member of our team whose dedication and compassion truly stand out. She consistently provides high-quality patient care, demonstrating both professionalism and genuine empathy in every interaction,” she says. “Her strong work ethic, attention to detail, and ability to remain calm under pressure make her a reliable and respected colleague. We are fortunate to have her as part of our team.”
What makes Worlanyo special is the way she truly feels for her clients.
She understands the heaviness her clients experience in their daily lives and strives to bring a sense of calm and familiarity to her visits. “I feel for the people that I work with, for what they are going through. I want to be there for them. I just want to see their faces. I pray that my presence with my clients brings them hope and some kind of peace, at least for that day,” Worlanyo explains. She approaches each visit with compassion and flexibility. She doesn’t just deliver care, she delivers comfort, dignity and independence, ensuring that her clients feel seen and valued. She loves her job and her clients deeply.
The Gift of Kindness and Patience
One moment that shaped Worlanyo career truly illustrates her love of clients perfectly. Worlanyo once visited a client who was using a Patient-Controlled Analgesia (PCA) pump and was in the middle of dinner when she arrived. “When I got there, I noticed that he was eating so I waited for him to finish. After he finished eating, I asked him, ‘how was the dinner?’ He told me that it had been a meal that he enjoyed but hadn’t eaten for a long time.” After his dinner, Worlanyo started to provide the care he needed. She left for the evening to return tomorrow. The next day, when she arrived to check on him, he was unresponsive. And by the third day, he had passed away. Worlanyo was shocked but found comfort in knowing she hadn’t rushed him through his meal.
“Oh my gosh,” she exclaims, “Imagine if I went in with my agenda and only focused on my job? If I didn’t let him finish his meal? If I just started the pump and left? But I didn’t do that. It gives me joy knowing that I made a difference in his life. At least he had his last meal in peace, he enjoyed it, and we shared each other’s company.”
Inspired by that experience, Worlanyo adopted a personal policy for all her visits to show respect to her clients. She has a rule that she will never interrupt a client if they are doing one of three things: eating, sleeping, or if they have company over. “I know that if my clients are doing any of these things, they are doing okay. I do not want to interrupt them,” she says. If they are eating, she respects their nourishment; if they are sleeping, she honours their need for rest; and if they have company over, she celebrates their joy without intrusion. This simple policy speaks volumes about her.
Building Bonds that Matter
Beyond the clinical care she provides, what Worlanyo loves most about her job is the bonds she forms with her clients. She is trusted and valued deeply, often being seen as a member of her clients’ families or as a close friend rather than just a service provider.
“I had a client who went to a follow-up appointment at a hospital clinic. Later, I got a call from a palliative doctor at that hospital. He said that he needed to speak to his client’s nurse first before he adjusted a pump. That nurse was me. It made me feel good to be trusted,” Worlanyo reflects. “And it helped develop a deeper bond between my client and me. That evening, I went to see her and encouraged her to follow her doctor’s instructions. I went there to support her. She agreed with everything I had said and felt confident with what the doctor was recommending.” These deep bonds with clients are what make a difference in their lives and inspire Worlanyo to come to work each day. “I remember later that year, she gave me a Christmas card – as if I was a close family friend.”
Whenever Worlanyo speaks of her clients, she shares fond memories with them. About how they light up around her during visits, about their big smiles beaming from ear to ear. She views entering her clients’ homes as a privilege, and she carries that responsibility with the utmost care.
This story was written by VHA Home HealthCare and submitted as an entry for the Hospital News 2026 Nursing Hero Awards