The new, young ones are coming up. Just got the news today about a neat old nurse who died suddenly. We always kept in touch, our paths crossed in life on a medical unit years ago.
She went to nursing school when it was run by the nuns. I always liked looking for her picture in the old building. Now a for profit owns the hospital, healthcare isn't what it used to be.
She was a strong, vital, kind, hard-working woman, wholesome and dependable.
The world is changing. Some changes are okay, but a lot has been lost to us, never to be regained. A bit of valiant, strong goodness died this week.
It's up to the younger men and women to keep these values alive now.
I am so blessed to have crossed over from the early days of white crisp uniform dresses, hose, caps etc. when what we did was the beginning of what much has become EBP, when Doctors use to do more and then nurses took over. When much of what we did was early clinical research, when we had to know how to care for many patients on every kind of monitor there was in one unit. When we iced saline for cardiac outputs and had to know all the formulas --to the monitor doing everything for us. When vents were on the medical floors, along with the other 15-30 patients we cared for, when team nursing was truly a team, and we provided patient centered care, oh did we do that back then too, they may have called it something different. So often I hear that our patients were not as sick, well actually they were they just stayed longer, so we did not get them back in the ER with constipation, because they pooped before they left. I had some great mentors, army nurses that could do it all tough but compassionate. I think my students like my stories, and learn from them, and I learn a great deal from my students and the new nurses I have worked with over the years. I am very glad that we have more men entering nursing, the diversity helps us provide care for all, and provides insite. Remember that gender does have a different culture and men look at things different than women, that is ok, but all need to recognise when we say things that are interpreted diffent by others. I see this also with more travelers and people moving around, we all have been brought up differently and we all hear and see things maybe a bit different. Respect is the key. The loss of a loved mentor, is a loss for us all. When I first read the topic, I thought it would be more about the knowledge we are loosing from those that came before us, and in away it is. Thank you all for your posts.
I agree that there is definitely something special about older nurses. They were dedicated, concientious and very professional. The world of nursing loses good ones every day.
I am personally a hybrid. ( I will be 50 this year). I definitely remember the old but I embrace the newer technologies and skills. I was blessed to receive a package in the mail, the other day. It was from my mentor, that is one of those "older nurses." She recently retired and sent me her stethoscope, calipers, scissors, nursing pin, etc. I actually treasure those items even more than my newly obtained BSN diploma. I would not be who I am today without Cyndy's encouragement and example of what a nurse should be.
Thanks for posting this. It makes me grateful to be part of something that is so much bigger and more important than myself. Generations of caring individuals devoted to helping others. We adapt and grow. Our faces and names switch out but the passing of the decades cannot dim the light of the lady that we pass on to the next nurse....
No matter how advanced your degree...people will always remember how you made them feel. Yes, we now have advanced degrees, are in leadership roles and have our own practices. Doesn't change the basics of our profession. We are still here to care for people, to help them navigate their health challenges and live the best life they can. It's always been about that. If we lose sight of that, there really is no point in our profession existing.
In memory of all those in health care that fit that description (including my previous PCP who graduated from medical school in the army the year I was born - and worked into his 80's, loved by all) let's keep them alive in our hearts. And let's give a virtual tip of the hat to all of them - every single one of them - whom gave caring for pt's the highest quality possible.
Specializes in Med/Surg crit care, coronary care, PACU,.
I learned so much from "The older nurses" As a new nurse 29 years ago I was fortunate to work with one on the medical floor who was full of great stories...stories that taught me how to be a good nurse, mistakes she made that I could learn from, and how to really read a situation. I feel fortunate to have learned at the feet of some really great nurses! Recently lost a truly great PACU nurse that started at my hospital when I was 2 years old ( I am 55) She could run circles around many of her co-workers until she retired a year before her passing.
I used to have a neighbor who was a retired nurse. She told me she'd been "on duty for 50 years". I remember it kind of amused me the way she called it "on duty". She was a real character: always had a cigarette hanging out of her mouth, and still drove a car but had several fender-benders while we lived in the same apt building (luckily no one was ever hurt). I used to visit her and one of the other senior ladies in the building. It would have been interesting to have ever worked with her.
I really like "old people" and I have noticed there doesn't seem to be the same respect for them that was present in the US when I was growing up. "Old" has become a put-down, and also politicans and others don't seem to talk about the needs of "seniors" or "older Americans" as a priority, the way they used to. This concerns me, especially in terms of future rationing of health care.
I'm sorry for your loss but times indeed changed and nurses are no longer the folks who does everyone's b work. We are highly trained, well educated advanced professionals many of whom in hospital leadership positions or running independent practices. Yes it's unfortunate that we don't have a tradition of wearing the uniform and cap but you better believe it that I'm glad we've progressed passed that point. Granted I'm a dude so that's another benefit.
You have no idea how hard we worked in the old diploma schools or how rigorous the training was. I'm a primary source about that mind you. (yes, this old LPN knows all about research.) You also have to realize that VERY bright women went into nursing in those days, because we didn't the same career options that young women have today. It is a good thing that women have more career options today, but as a result, we are not getting as much of the best and the brightest as we used to in nursing as many bright women are choosing other fields.
There are still bright women going into nursing...and now we have bright men too. It does not make you sound bright to refer to yourself as a "dude" or to make comments that are not based on actual experience but based on someone else's ill informed ideas and opinions.
You would do well to respect nurses from an earlier generation who paved the way for you. In my day, we were taught to respect elder nurses. Now I think the opposite is taught in academia by people who have never worked with a diploma grad and have long given up the real world of nursing for the idealism of academic nursing.
BTW: I still wear my cap because I EARNED the right to do so and some 60 years later and am still proud that I was able to complete such a rigorous program of which does not exist today.
Specializes in Oncology; medical specialty website.
I agree that there is definitely something special about older nurses. They were dedicated, concientious and very professional. The world of nursing loses good ones every day.
I am personally a hybrid. ( I will be 50 this year). I definitely remember the old but I embrace the newer technologies and skills. I was blessed to receive a package in the mail, the other day. It was from my mentor, that is one of those "older nurses." She recently retired and sent me her stethoscope, calipers, scissors, nursing pin, etc. I actually treasure those items even more than my newly obtained BSN diploma. I would not be who I am today without Cyndy's encouragement and example of what a nurse should be.
What a thoughtful gift! She must have seen a lot of promise in you to go so far as to give you her nursing pin.
I'm sorry for your loss but times indeed changed and nurses are no longer the folks who does everyone's b work. We are highly trained, well educated advanced professionals many of whom in hospital leadership positions or running independent practices. Yes it's unfortunate that we don't have a tradition of wearing the uniform and cap but you better believe it that I'm glad we've progressed passed that point. Granted I'm a dude so that's another benefit.
None of this comment makes any sense in context of the OP.
My 1st job after graduating LPN school in 1992 was on a Med-Surg floor of a hospital. I was trained and orientated by 2 diploma RN's who took their training at the end of World War 2!!! They were both late 60/early 70 age group at that time and I learned more from them than I did in school, and they worked circles around the younger nurses. I couldn't keep up with them and I was only 26! They could both remember when only doctors gave shots and people who went into cardiac arrest dying because CPR wasn't known yet. Oh boy, the stories they had! I miss those nurses. They were truly the last of their kind.
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cinlou, BSN, MSN, RN
231 Posts
I am so blessed to have crossed over from the early days of white crisp uniform dresses, hose, caps etc. when what we did was the beginning of what much has become EBP, when Doctors use to do more and then nurses took over. When much of what we did was early clinical research, when we had to know how to care for many patients on every kind of monitor there was in one unit. When we iced saline for cardiac outputs and had to know all the formulas --to the monitor doing everything for us. When vents were on the medical floors, along with the other 15-30 patients we cared for, when team nursing was truly a team, and we provided patient centered care, oh did we do that back then too, they may have called it something different. So often I hear that our patients were not as sick, well actually they were they just stayed longer, so we did not get them back in the ER with constipation, because they pooped before they left. I had some great mentors, army nurses that could do it all tough but compassionate. I think my students like my stories, and learn from them, and I learn a great deal from my students and the new nurses I have worked with over the years. I am very glad that we have more men entering nursing, the diversity helps us provide care for all, and provides insite. Remember that gender does have a different culture and men look at things different than women, that is ok, but all need to recognise when we say things that are interpreted diffent by others. I see this also with more travelers and people moving around, we all have been brought up differently and we all hear and see things maybe a bit different. Respect is the key. The loss of a loved mentor, is a loss for us all. When I first read the topic, I thought it would be more about the knowledge we are loosing from those that came before us, and in away it is. Thank you all for your posts.