Nurse Betty

Yes, yes, I know. It's been a while since I've posted. And it will remain at least a few days until I post about the goings-on in the Aleksza Family. =)

Tonight I met a woman that I heart. We call her "Nurse Betty". I sat with her for about 2.5 hours and her passion for homecare, for the patients she serves and for the people around her was infectious. So much so that I at 3am ET I'm coming back to my room to write this. Perhaps because I don't want to forget than anything.

The background: Betty is 79 years young and has been a nurse for more than 50 years. After finishing high school she had wanted to be an Egyptologist. This determined as a result of going into her grandmother's attic and reading old books and seeing the pyramids in pictures. Her mother had another plan for her. She enrolled her in nursing school with a group of nuns from the Sisters of Christian Charity. As Betty tells it, "I'd never even played doctor with the little boy next store... A lost opportunity, but I mean seriously!" On her first day of nursing school Betty decided to listen in at the door when the sisters were talking after class... She heard them laughing and joking and decided then that they were fun and she'd stick around. She enjoyed nursing school tremendously. She said the sisters taught her so much. They allowed them to do all of the things they would be doing in "the real world" during their education. She told me that she feels so badly for the nurses today that don't get to wear the starched hat, uniform, etc. with the fancy graduations. She thinks this is a right of passage and one to be proud of.

Fast forward a bit... Mmm. Okay. Let's say 50 years.

Betty has had a wildly facinating life. She "moonlighted" as a "Stew" (AKA Stewardess) during her early nursing days. She worked for Air Canada and flew all over the world. She recalls that time in her life as amazing. "A little farm girl flying all over the world?!" (BTW: She says that the uniforms you see on PanAm are perfect to the time period but the story... she says is "BS". I don't know how true that is but that's Betty's version. ;))

Nurse Betty was nominated by one of her peers at the Home Health agency that she works at for an award. An award to be given to a compassionate person in the home health or hospice industry. Betty's nomination letter was wonderful. She was referred to as "the closest nurse to a modern day Florence Nightingale" that the submitter had ever met.

She kept us going for hours with her tales and stories. As she says "I'm Irish... I can keep on talking!" She told us the McD's parfaits (that they made smaller - much to her chagrin) with caramel are better than sex... At least she thinks so; It's been a while. She met a man in the elevator tonight as I was walking her back to her room that she said was a real "cutie pie". Even invited him back to her room, saying she wouldn't mind having some time with him. Doesn't know what she'd do with him but she's pretty sure she could figure it out. (Ohmy!) She challenged our CEO to a pole dance (she'd do it if he'd do it). (Fortunately this offer was politely declined... whew... for us all!!) She talked about her husband, who passed away, with a heart still full of so much love for him, despite her randy talking. :) He was "the most handsome man I'd ever met in my entire life." She loves jammin' to the Eagles while on her way to home visits. She feels a compulsive need to answer that lil ringing phone, even though she knows she shouldn't do so while driving. (We introduced her to bluetooth tonight.) She is a proud nurse. One that wants the world to know that Homecare nursing is more than taking blood pressures.

She reminded me again about the lives that are affected by homecare. She's only been in the industry for the last 6-7 years but she wishes she'd found it much sooner. She said she feels like she's able to do more hands on nursing than she did in the years previous as an ER nurse, burn center nurse and a variety of other nursing roles. She loves her patients and genuinely wants the best for them.

Betty is an incredible woman. One of thousands doing the same job, every single day. It struck me after her speech. She had a number of clinicians come up to her to say how much they related to the stories she told during her 3 minutes or so speech. They're there, doing the same things. Wading through the animal excrement, roaches, fleas, mice, biting dogs, cats, and homes with no HVAC. Making the most of those situations by carrying dog biscuits (toss and RUN into the house) or apples (for the stray horse that meets her at the end of one of her patient's driveways and escorts her up... At which time she feels him the apple.)

Nurse Betty plans on retiring at 80. Not because she doesn't want to do nursing anymore, but she wants to make sure she can travel before she's lost too much time. :) She wants to finally go see the Egyptian pyramids. Maybe see Orlando (I'm trying to convince her to come to Orlando next year and room with me for the conference!) Go back to Ireland to see if there is any family left (her Dad was a first generation immigrant). See the sites and experience more of the world. :)

I've been in this business for 14 years now and remain in love with the people I get to work with that care for patients in the home. They not only give of their skills... they give of their hearts. My deepest thanks to my clinician friends like Nurse Betty that care for the "sick and wounded" each day. To put it briefly: You rock! =)