East Valley Tribune
May 13, 2007
Half a century in nursing for Mesa woman
Marija Potkonjak, Tribune
When Joyce Odekirk became a nurse in 1958, needles were reusable, touch — not technology — told the tale of a patient’s troubles, and nurses were seen and not heard.
Watch Joyce Odekirk talk about her days as a student nurse and her career in the ER
Odekirk was a 17-year-old Iowa farm girl when she stepped onto a hospital ward for the first time wearing a prim nurse’s cap, starched white apron and pristine stockings. She lived at the hospital and there was almost no time for a social life. The dress code was so strict, nursing students had to bend over so the instructors could make sure their skirts were long enough.
“Nursing was so different then,” says Odekirk, now 66. “Nurses have a lot more choices now.”
Almost 50 years later, she’s still caring for patients, but in a world starkly different than when she started out. Odekirk, who recently celebrated her 35th anniversary as an emergency room nurse at Banner Desert Medical Center in Mesa, has seen her profession evolve and her role in patient care change...
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what a terrific nurse!
