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Finding purpose in the hardest moments

headshot of Evelyn Fleider By Evelyn Fleider 513-5582996
5 minute read April 28, 2026

For Matt Depenbrock, the path to nursing was anything but linear. After studying psychology and working as a certified sommelier traveling the country, it was his desire to care for others and a willingness to start over that brought him into healthcare.

Depenbrock began his nursing career in an adult medical ICU just before the COVID-19 pandemic. The experience left a lasting mark — long hours, inadequate protective equipment, and families unable to be present with loved ones at their most vulnerable moments. "We really had no rule book," he says. "I almost got out of nursing entirely because of that."

Instead, he made a pivotal change, accepting a position in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) at Cincinnati Children's Hospital. "That's where I found my passion again,” he recalls.

Working in one of the nation's leading NICUs, Depenbrock cares for some of the most medically complex newborns, many arriving from around the world. The work exposed him to both extraordinary recoveries and devastating losses.

Matt Depenbrock at UC's Nippert Stadium

Matt Depenbrock at UC's Nippert Stadium

"You can introduce life and then do end-of-life care in the same shift," he explains. "Nothing prepares you for that. When medicine runs out of answers, a family still needs you there. They need presence. They need honesty. They need someone who knows how to hold that space."

That realization became the foundation of his Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) project at the University of Cincinnati College of Nursing, which he pursued not as a formality, but out of a genuine desire to contribute to change. "I pursued the DNP because I was seeing this gap over and over and I wasn't equipped to close it yet."

The DNP program gave him a framework to turn bedside experience into action. "I got those stepping stones to bridge gaps and make a difference," he says. His faculty pushed him toward territory that was both challenging and underexplored. "My faculty told me, 'This is something nobody has really talked about, but it needs to be done.’ That pushed me, even though it added pressure."

Building an initiative that makes a real difference

To ensure his work remained grounded in real clinical needs, Depenbrock built his project team with leaders from within his own NICU, in addition to his project chair, Dr. Robyn Stamm. He reached out to researchers in the United Kingdom and Australia to use validated measurement tools and their response reinforced the significance of his work.

The result was Project HEALS: Improving NICU Nurses’ End-of-Life Care Competence, an eight-week quality improvement initiative built around 11 short, flexible educational modules designed specifically for NICU nurses. Each module addressed key gaps he had observed firsthand — from communication during end-of-life care to cultural considerations and nurse self-care. "I wanted something that would work for real life.”

Matt Depenbrock presenting his project

Depenbrock presenting at the Regional Tristate Nursing Excellence Symposium

The outcomes showed significant gains in nurse confidence and knowledge, but for Depenbrock, the most meaningful validation came from his colleagues. "People came up to me and said they want more of this," he says, a response echoed by unit leadership, who expressed interest in expanding the program and continuing future improvement cycles.

That enthusiasm reflects a deeper need his project was designed to address: the emotional load nurses carry. "We live through those moments too. You can't explain them to someone who hasn't been there," he says. By weaving resilience and self-care into the curriculum, he aimed to support not only patients' families, but the clinicians beside them.

For Depenbrock, a calling that was once uncertain is now unmistakable and deeply personal. His long-term goal is to adapt the program for neonatal units of all levels, well beyond Cincinnati. "If I can help even one family through one of the hardest moments of their life, that's everything."

Project HEALS: Improving NICU Nurses’ End-of-Life Care Competence was recognized as a Poster of Excellence at a regional nursing symposium and has been accepted for presentation at an international conference. Matt Depenbrock was also selected as a student speaker at UC's spring doctoral commencement.

Featured image: Matt Depenbrock on the UC campus. / Photo provided

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